A Walk to Remember
by WalkingDeadRox
Summary: Life can throw all kinds of twists and turns especially in the apocalypse. Lee Everett knows this better than anyone. He's lost quite a few friends to many circumstances, but now, something has happened to him. Some would consider it a blessing, others would consider it a curse. He considers it just his luck.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, Q here. Well there's going to be a lot of twists and turns in this Fic. It starts at the end of Season 1 Episode 5 and we'll keep going into Season 2 where it will eventually end. By the way, I think I have a plan for Independent, but it'll still be a while till I update it. Sorry for inconvenience.**

 **Also, FanFic Productions has recently released a story that will combine some important OCs from me and Magixben1124. I won't spoil too much to you guys, but you should really check it out. It's a huge project for him, but he has kicked it off with a good start. The first chapter is really awesome. The name of the Fic is called The Walking Dead: United.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee kept walking further into the Marsh House in search of Clementine. He chose the decision of keeping his left arm as opposed to cutting it off, but he wasn't weary from the walker's venom. He felt the same as he always did. He looked down to his arm and was shocked to see that his tissue was starting close up around the bite. Usually, the skin would start decaying around the bite, but this wasn't the case.

He shook his head and continued on his path towards one of the doors. He placed his ear against the door to hear any possible voices. He really hoped to hear Clementine. After hearing nothing he opened the door to a room with an average set up. There was a dining table that was surrounded by a couple of chairs. There was also a table that was against a wall. However, the most noticeable section in the room was the two doors. The two doors were attached by a white chord. Lee approached the chord but then he heard the clicking of a gun. He turned around and was staring face-to-face with a man. He was very gaunt and didn't appear threatening, yet something about him was off. His eyes read insanity and paranoia with a hint of revenge in them. He didn't look right.

"I got us conjoining rooms." The stranger said.

"Hello." Lee said.

"This is civil." The stranger said somewhat surprised by Lee's behavior. "You're things… over there." The stranger said as he indicated to the table against the wall.

"Hey, let me out!" A young girl exclaimed which came from the direction of one of the doors. Lee's eyes widened; he knew who the little girl was. It was Clementine! "Who's out there?"

Lee was about to speak but the stranger shushed him and held him at gun point. "Quiet, please, sweetie." The stranger said to Clementine. The stranger then looked to Lee and said, "Your things… over there." Once again, the stranger indicated to the table against the wall, except he gestured with the handgun as opposed to the head gesture from earlier.

Lee approached the table with the stranger keeping his gun pointed to Lee. "Just be cool man." Lee said as he placed an empty 8 mm handgun, cleaver, and Clementine's walkie-talkie on the table.

"Do I not seem cool?" The stranger asked.

"You want my honest answer?" Lee said. "No, you don't seem cool."

"If I wasn't cool, you would be dead already." The stranger said. He looked to the equipment on the table and said, "Good, go sit over there." He indicated to one of the chairs to which Lee obliged. The stranger followed him, making sure to keep Lee at gunpoint. The two men sat down across from one another with the coffee table separating them. "Do you know who I am?" The stranger asked.

"Yes, I saw the Volkswagen out front." Lee replied.

"See anything else that you want to take?" The stranger asked. "There's not much left. You and your group took almost everything." Lee looked down with a regretful stare. It wasn't like he wanted to take the supplies, but he didn't have a choice. "Have you ever hurt somebody you cared about?" The stranger asked which interrupted Lee's thoughts.

"Yes." Lee replied. "My wife, she travelled a lot; I didn't like that. All I ever wanted was a family."

"A reasonable thing to want." The stranger remarked.

"That should have been my first clue that something wasn't working." Lee said.

The stranger stared down with a frown appearing on his features and said, "I hurt her… so badly. I took our son Adam into the woods to go hunting, even against my wife's wishes, but then I couldn't find him. I came back and the look she had said that I was a monster. We went looking for him but we couldn't find him, then we went back to our vehicle. I could have gotten her trust back Lee, but not after what you and your people did." The stranger sighed as he continued his story. "The hungrier we got, the more she blamed me. Until finally, she took our daughter, Elizabeth, and left. They didn't get far. I found them a day later, in the road." The stranger paused to get his bearings and continued, "Do I look like a monster to you?"

"We all are." Lee said. "We've all done the worst things imaginable, just to stay alive."

"Some of us are worse than others." The stranger said. "You walked her into a dairy full of sick people without any consideration."

"If I knew what they were, I would have never let Clementine go near them." Lee responded.

"You let a man get eaten alive to save a pretty face." The stranger said.

"There's no way I could have saved both of them." Lee responded.

"The sweatshirt she is wearing was my boy's." The stranger hissed.

"Everything was just out there for the taking." Lee said. "We were cold and hungry."

"SO MY FAMILY WAS LEFT COLD AND STARVED!" The stranger bellowed. He sighed to calm himself down.

"Listen, I'm sorry for what happened to you. My group and I came across what we thought was an abandoned vehicle." Lee explained. "If I would have known what I know now, I wouldn't have taken a thing from you."

"That's supposed to mean something to me." The stranger said with an insincere tone in his voice. "But it doesn't. Look, I'm not a man of vengeance, but vengeance is all I have left."

One question did plague Lee. How did this man know so much about his group, even before they stole from him? "How do you know all this?" Lee asked.

The stranger pulled out a walkie-talkie and said, "You're a monster. You're a murder and a thief, and I'm going to hurt you so bad."

"Just give me Clementine back." Lee said.

"I'd rather shoot her myself before I ever let her return to you." The stranger said. Lee shuttered from the awful thought as the stranger continued, "Lee listen to me, before what happens next, I need you to know that she will be in good hands. We can have a family. I bet you don't even know how old she is."

"She's eight." Lee replied.

"Wrong." The stranger said.

"What?" Lee asked surprised by what the stranger said.

"She's nine; her birthday was six days ago. I know how to be a dad." The stranger said. "She wouldn't be put through some of the things that she has been put through with you."

"You'll have to kill me." Lee said. "I'm not letting that happen."

"I intend to." The stranger said with an evil smirk. He then looked down to a bowling ball bag and said, "Hey hon, I think things are going to work out."

"What are you-?" Lee tried to ask but then he noticed the white chord between the doors snap off. He looked up to see Clementine poke her head out of the room. Lee looked to her and then eyed an empty bottle of beer on the table where the rest of his supplies were. Clementine got the hint and grabbed the bottle. She slowly approached the stranger as he continued to ramble.

"Yeah, I'm happy too. You're going to love Clementine. She's not Lizzy but she's sweet; she wouldn't even harm a fly." The stranger said as he looked up to Lee. Clementine took her chance and swung the bottle and she hit the stranger across the head. "OW!" The stranger exclaimed in pain as he grabbed his sore head. He lost focus of Lee from the hit to which Lee used to his advantage.

He jumped over the coffee table and attacked the stranger. The stranger immediately reacted and placed his foot between him and Lee. The chair fell backwards and Lee and the stranger fell to the ground.

The stranger quickly regained his composure and tried to shove the gun into Lee's face. Lee pushed the gun away and did two jabs with his elbows to the stranger's ribs. The stranger grunted from both blows until Lee was able to kick the stranger back, and the gun was sent to the other side of the room. The stranger wheezed as he got back up and headed for the firearm; however, Lee got back up and tackled the stranger into the other door which must have been a closet.

Lee began to choke the stranger with as much of his strength as possible. After several tense-filled seconds of choking the stranger, Lee released his grip upon seeing the stranger was no longer struggling. The stranger's body fell to the ground with a thud. Lee huffed as he picked up the handgun and fired a shot into the stranger's skull. Clementine watched on somewhat terrified by the whole scene.

"He-He would have come back, right?" Clementine said.

"Yeah, that's right." Lee huffed.

Clementine ran up to Lee and Lee bent down to her level. She hugged around his neck and cried, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Lee wrapped his arms around her small body in a hug.

"Sh… it's okay honey." Lee said as he started to rock her. Clementine smiled and looked to her guardian while they continued to hug. She was glad to be with him again.

They separated and Clementine crinkled her nose. "You don't smell good." Clementine said.

Lee chuckled and said, "I had to get through a lot of them to get here."

Lee stood up straight and asked, "Did he hurt you?"

"No, not really." Clementine replied tearfully. "I'm really sorry, Lee."

"It's okay honey. You couldn't have known that he was going to take advantage of you like that." Lee said as he put a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Clementine, we need to get you somewhere safe and then we need to talk, okay? We need to figure out how to get out of Savannah as fast as we can." Lee looked to the door and asked, "You ready to go?"

Clementine nodded and Lee slowly approached the door with Clementine following behind. As soon as Lee opened the door, he was greeted with a walker. It growled as it sniffed him. Lee immediately stiffened up, but to his surprised the walker didn't try to bite him. Instead it looked to Clementine with a satisfied growl and started to approach her. Lee immediately grabbed the walker and threw it to the ground. It growled as Lee pulled out the handgun that the stranger had and shot the walker.

The gun clicked indicating that it was empty. Deemed useless, Lee tossed the gun aside as Clementine said, "It didn't bite you."

"Yeah it didn't." Lee said with a questioning glance

"You're covered in that gross stuff." Clementine said indicating the walker blood and guts.

"I think this is how we're going to get out of the city." Lee said as he went to the table. He grabbed his cleaver and empty 8 mm handgun, figuring that finding ammunition would be easy for his particular weapon. He approached the walker with his cleaver and started to slice the walker open. He gestured Clementine to come over. She did as he asked and he started to cover her in the walker's entrails. Clementine whined and cried from disgust as Lee covered her.

"This is so gross." Clementine whined.

"Alright, I'm going to need to do your back too." Lee said.

Clementine cringed but she turned around anyway. Lee wiped the guts over Clementine's back and she started to whine and cry again.

"Don't worry, we'll get you bath soon after this." Lee said.

"Not soon enough." Clementine replied. "Are you done?"

"Just a little more." Lee said. "I want to be sure." He then slathered more of the walker's guts on Clementine. Lee got up and said, "There, that should do it."

"I hope so." Clementine said.

"And you're missing something." Lee said as he pulled out Clementine's hat. He smiled to see her face brighten at the sight of her trademark hat.

"I thought it was gone." Clementine said as she grabbed the hat to place it back on her head.

"I thought you were gone." Lee said with a smile forming on his lips.

"Thank you." Clementine replied. Lee nodded to the girl and the two made their way out of the room and down the hall to head outside.

* * *

Lee was back in the walker infested streets of Savannah. He hoped that this plan would work; it has to work. He kept an arm around Clementine to keep her going at his pace. The two started to walk through the herd with Lee having to weave around any incoming walkers that got close to him and Clementine.

Suddenly the girl stopped altogether. Lee looked to her and saw her terrified by something. His eyes widened when he looked up and saw Ed and Diana. They were both walkers and must have been walkers for a long time. "Oh, no." Lee said with a saddened look aimed at the two walkers. His gaze turned to Clementine and he noticed that she was like a statue; she couldn't move. Lee quickly tried to get her to move, but Clementine was kept in place by what she saw.

Lee got down on the ground to her level and whispered in her ear, "Sweet pea, I know it's hard, but we have to keep going."

Clementine didn't respond. She just continued to stare at her parents with a horrified look. "Hey, hey, Clem." Lee said trying to get her attention. He even grabbed her small hand with his large one. Still, she didn't move as she continued to look on horrified by the walkers that used to be her parents.

Finally, Lee had exhausted all his options, he was going to have to do something that he hadn't done to Clementine before. He would have to carry her. "Sorry, sweet pea." Lee said before he picked up the recently turned nine year old.

She yelped from the strange feeling of being picked up, but with the exception of a couple of walkers that turned around and growled at the noise that she made, there were no advances towards the two. Their cover remained intact. Lee kept advancing further into the walker infested streets while he carried the small girl. Clementine was stiff in his grip at first, but she eventually relaxed.

 **Hours Later**

Lee was finally outside of Savannah with the young girl in his arms, but Clementine was still unresponsive. She had been unresponsive since she saw her parents. Eventually, he found a log and placed Clementine on it. He could now see why she was so unresponsive when they were getting out of the city. The young girl's eyes were puffy and her cheeks were red. She must have been silently crying as he was carrying her. Lee crouched down as the girl looked down distantly. She looked to the ground in a daze as Lee grabbed her small hands with his large ones. "Sweet pea, hey." Lee said. He was concerned over her well-being.

"They-They're gone." Clementine said. "My parents are… dead." She looked up her guardian for confirmation to which he reluctantly gave in the form of a nod.

"I'm sorry, sweat pea, but they are." Lee said as he rubbed her small hands. All at once, the pain and sadness of losing her parents hit Clementine hard. She started to whimper again.

In response, Lee hugged the devastated nine year old and shushed her while offering some comfort. "Shhhh, I know. I know it hurts, honey. I lost my family, too. All I can tell you is that everything is going to be alright." Of course, Lee knew that was a lie. The pain of never seeing his parents again still caused him pain and the fact that he had to kill his own reanimated brother haunted him to this day.

After comforting the child for a couple of minutes, Lee heard her gasp. "What's wrong, sweat pea?" Lee asked as he pulled her away by her shoulders.

"There… there are two people on a hill… coming this way." Clementine said with her eyes widened in fear.

Lee turned and saw the two figures that Clementine saw. He got up and drew his empty gun. He would have to use the gun to threaten the two figures away. He knew that they weren't walkers; they were too fast. "Stay behind me, sweat pea." Lee said.

"I will." Clementine said as she held on tightly to Lee's pants leg.

Eventually, the figures got closer and closer until Lee shouted out, "That's far enough! I got a gun and I will shoot you if you come any closer." He hoped that he could intimidate the approaching figures.

Lee held his breath and waited for the figures' response until he heard a familiar voice. "Lee, is that you?" It was Christa! The two figures must have been her and Omid.

"Christa? Omid?" Lee called out for the two as both figures came up the hill. It was revealed that they were the two lovers.

"Hey, man." Omid greeted. "I can't believe you made it. You got Clementine, right?"

Lee smiled as he stepped away to reveal the small nine year old to the young couple. "Yeah, I got her back." Lee said.

"Hi, honey. Are you okay?" Christa asked as she approached the young girl.

Clementine looked down with a frown. Christa looked to the child with kind eyes and hugged her. "It's okay, honey. You're safe now." Christa said. Christa released the girl from her grip and looked up to Lee. "I guess you told her what happened."

"No, I didn't." Lee said. "She's sad because she lost her parents. She saw them in the herd. The only way I could get her out of there was by carrying her."

"You didn't tell her about the…" Omid said but he trailed off as Lee shook his head.

"Speaking of which, how are you feeling?" Christa asked as she got back up.

"I'm… fine." Lee said as he looked down to his body. "I don't feel any different than I normally do."

Christa placed her hand on Lee's forehead and was surprised when she felt that Lee wasn't warm or cold. His body temperature was normal. "That's weird. You're not building up a fever at all."

"What are you talking about?" Clementine asked the bewildered adults. "Where's Ben and Kenny?"

Lee squatted down to Clementine's eye level and said, "I'm sorry, sweat pea. Ben fell and got hurt really bad… Kenny stayed behind to make sure that Ben wouldn't feel any more pain." Clementine lowered her head with a frown. She understood what Lee said and was saddened that she lost two more friends in the unforgiving world. "There's one more thing I need to tell you." Lee said as he placed two fingers under the girl's chin and gently raised her head so that she was looking at him. Lee pulled his left sleeve up and revealed the bite to her.

Clementine eyes widened in fear and her mouth dropped. Her whole body shook and her eyes threatened to burst out in tears again. "N-No… No, no, no, please no!" Clementine pleaded as tears fell from her eyes. "You can't be bitten. I just lost my mom and dad. You're all I have left."

"Clementine, honey, I was bitten yesterday morning when I was searching for you. I should be a walker by now." Lee said which made the girl stop crying. She looked to him with hope coming back into her eyes. "I don't think I'm going to turn sweat pea. I think I'm immune to the walker's venom."

All at once, Clementine's mouth turned into a wide grin and she ran to Lee. She hugged him as tightly as she could with Lee returning the hug. "I don't know if you want to make that assumption. It's been a while since you were bit, but I've heard that there are people who can last two days before they turn." Christa said.

"I know, but… I don't feel sick in the slightest." Lee said.

"Let's just see how it goes for the next couple of days." Omid said. "Who knows? You might be right which would be cool." He then turned in the direction that Lee and Clementine came from and said, "So, I'm guess we're not allowed back into Savannah?"

Lee chuckled as Clementine released him from her hug. "I'm afraid not." Lee said as he stood up.

"That is awesome! I never been blacklisted from an entire city before. I should get a plaque or something." Omid said.

"Yeah, that's quite an achievement, Omid." Christa joked. "You've been blacklisted from bars and casinos, but an entire city is extraordinary."

"I know. I'm finally in the big leagues now!" Omid said. Christa, Lee, and Clementine all shared a smile with one another over Omid's antics.

"We better move on." Lee said. "It won't be long until walkers find us."

"You don't have to tell us twice." Christa said as she started to walk off in the opposite direction of Savannah with Omid, Lee, and Clementine behind her.

 **Weeks Later**

A flock crows were startled and flew off into the sky as the group of four made their way through the woods. One of the group members, Clementine, watched the crows fly off with an intrigued look until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to her guardian as he said, "Come on, sweet pea, we need to catch up with Christa and Omid." Clementine nodded and they walked over to join the couple.

"Omid, you can't be serious." Christa said. She and her boyfriend watched the road for both walkers and humans.

"Oh, but I am." Omid said.

"We are not doing that." Christa said as she got up.

"Why not?" Omid asked as he joined her.

"Because…" Christa said as she started to laugh.

"Oh come on, Christa. What's wrong with Omid?" Omid asked as he chased after the woman. Lee and Clementine followed behind the two.

"We are not naming our baby Omid. One of you is enough." Christa said while she tried to stifle a chuckle. "You two a little help here?" Christa said as she looked back to her other companions.

"I think Omid is a fine name." Lee said.

"See, even Lee agrees with me." Omid said.

"Lee, you are no help." Christa said. "Clementine, please talk some sense into these two."

"Think about it. Omid Junior, OJ for short." Omid said.

"No." Christa said with a chuckle.

"What if it's a girl?" Clementine asked.

"Then we'll name her Christa." Omid said as he turned back to the small girl. She hadn't grown an inch since the passing of her ninth birthday which made Lee worry. She was nine years old, but she was still small enough to be thought of as an eight year old. He hoped that she would hit some growth spurts eventually.

"But, I'm Christa. I don't want to name her that. That's just confusing." Christa said as they got closer to the rest stop.

"Then name her Genevieve. I don't care." Omid said as they stopped in front of the bathrooms at the rest stop.

"How can you not care? You're not taking this seriously." Christa said as she tried to hide her smile. Her boyfriend was just being his usual rambunctious self, so she couldn't help but smirk. Even Lee and Clementine weren't immune to his comical taste.

"I take everything seriously, including little Omid's future." Omid said with a satisfied smirk.

"Keep talking like that and you'll be sleeping out in the rain." Christa said with a smirk. "Remember that time in Barstow?"

"Vegas weekend." Omid said as Christa walked over to one of the bathrooms. Omid smirked and turned to Lee. "Hey um-"

"I don't even want to know." Lee said as he held his hands up to stop Omid.

"Cool, how about you help Clem clean up. We'll meet you back out here." Omid said as he went into the bathroom that Christa went into.

"What are they doing?" Clementine asked.

"I'll… um tell you when you're older." Lee said. "How about we go wash off your face? You look like you've been pushed into the mud." Lee said with a chuckle.

"I'm not a baby, Lee. I can do it myself." Clementine said.

"Well okay. Just come and get me if you need help." Lee said. Clementine nodded and went into the bathroom. Lee sighed and said, "I miss having her be my little girl. She used to let me help her with everything, but now nothing." He sulked silently as he remembered how the girl would let him help her in everything until he noticed a walker heading towards him.

Lee sighed before he walked over to deal with the walker. He quickly dealt with the walker with the use of his cleaver before he walked back over to stand on guard.

Eventually, Omid and Christa came out. They both noticed that Lee was rather upset. "What's wrong man?" Omid asked.

"It's Clementine. She's been trying to be independent since Savannah, and I feel like I'm being left out." Lee said. "I'm not ready for her to grow up yet. She's too young."

"Don't worry, Lee. She'll come around and start looking to you like a father again." Christa said as she placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"I hope so." Lee said. Suddenly, both were stunned when they heard a gunshot. They looked around and saw that Omid was nowhere to be seen. Omid must have went to check on Clementine.

"Omid?" Christa called out. It was evident that she was starting to panic.

Lee quickly ran into the bathroom where Clementine was and found Omid on the ground. Christa soon joined him as they heard an unknown girl. "I-I didn't mean too. I swear, I didn't-" The girl cut herself off and dropped a handgun on the floor.

Christa immediately glared at the girl and shot her in the stomach which made the girl stumble back until she hit the wall of the bathroom. She clutched her wound with her hand and started to hyperventilate until her body gave out on her and she died.

Lee looked from the girl to Clementine and saw the girl whimpering in fear. "It's okay." Lee said as he approached Clementine. "It's okay."

"HOW IS THIS OKAY?" Christa shouted with tears coming down her face. Clementine shuttered from the woman's loud scolding as Lee turned back to Christa.

"Christa, it's not her fault." Lee said to calm the woman down. "It was just an accident."

"NOT HER FAULT? LEE, THAT IS HER F****** GUN!" Christa exclaimed as she pointed to the handgun that the unknown girl had dropped on the ground. "This is all her fault!" Christa turned her angered gaze to Clementine and said, "I'm glad that you're so eager to grow up, because you're definitely going to grow up now!" Christa turned away from the two and headed for the door of the bathroom. "Come on. Walkers are going to be hear any minute and I don't want to hear any whining or whimpering." Christa said as she turned her gaze back to Clementine. She then exited the bathroom leaving Lee shocked and surprised. He had never seen Christa act that way. He looked to Clementine and gestured her to hold his hand.

Clementine obliged as her whole body shook. Lee could tell that the girl had never been scolded like that in her whole life. He felt sorry for her. He wanted to reassure her, but he couldn't… Christa was now in charge. All Lee could do is try and be as fatherly to Clementine as possible while letting Christa have her way. She would move on eventually. The two left the bathroom, but nothing would be the same ever again.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Yeah, Christa-haters unite. And no, I don't really hate Christa.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: You guys are going to hate my guts in this chapter. You know how I am with cliffhangers.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

 **18 Months Later**

Lee looked to the fire with an attentive stare. The day had been long and hard, but his body was too restless to obtain sleep. Every little sound made him nervous. Over the last eighteen months, he had pushed himself to his limits just to survive. He along with his companions had heard of a safe zone up north called Wellington, but the trek had proved to be a challenge. None of them were adapt for the cold weather. Plus, the cold made it even more difficult for them to find food. Thankfully, they were lucky today. Lee was able to spot a weasel which was enough of a meal for the three of them, if it was to ever cook. Unfortunately, a cold rain must have passed by recently since the wood wasn't burning to well.

Lee looked to his adoptive daughter who sat next to him and noticed that the girl was exhausted. Her eyes were barely staying open. Lee learned a lot about her over the last year and a half. For one, Clementine didn't like physical activities. She'd rather spend her day drawing and reading. For another, she didn't respond to well to being scolded. She didn't fight back, but she did withdraw into herself and became more scared, which made her more dependent on him. Christa was constantly scolding Clementine and made sure Lee wouldn't baby her, but it was obvious that Clementine needed someone to care for her.

Lee was happy that the girl had finally hit some growth spurts during the last year and a half. Being short in an apocalypse was a disadvantage. Now she looked to be fourteen instead of eleven. Of course, because of her growth spurts, Lee and Christa had to go and get her some new clothing for her. She now wore a purple and white stripped long sleeve shirt under a purple shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of blue shoes.

Lee looked down to his own apparel as he noted some of the changes that have occurred to him. He now wore a red sweater over a white collared shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of black shoes. He ran a hand through his dark short hair which was accompanied by his beard which has some specks of grey in it.

"This will never work." Christa muttered as she got up from the log that she sat on. "Look at this. It's pathetic." Christa got down and poked the fire with a spare stick. "The wood's too wet to burn. At this rate, we'll be having this thing for breakfast."

"I can wait until then." Clementine said.

"What else can we do, Christa?" Lee asked. "It's too dangerous to go out there right now."

"We have to find something that'll burn. If we don't take risks, we will die, Lee. You know that better than anyone." Christa said. Lee looked down to the fire as a cold wind blew by.

Lee heard Clementine groan from the cold air. He looked to her as she said, "I'm freezing." She hugged her body for warmth as Lee looked down. He was kicking himself for not being able to find her anything warmer, but he and Christa were lucky to find the clothing that the girl was wearing now.

"You think this is bad?" Christa asked. She was now standing next to the fire. "Wait until we get to Wellington. This rain will turn into sleet, then snow, and then ice. We still have a long ways to go."

"Is it safe at Wellington?" Clementine asked as she turned to Lee. He never really told her much about the placed except for the fact that it was up north.

"Safe because of the cold. Christa and I have heard that it slows down the walkers." Lee said. Clementine nodded in a sign that she understood before she looked back to the fire.

"Clementine, you should be doing this." Christa said as she handed the stick that she was using earlier to the girl. "You need to understand how this works, otherwise…"

"She knows, Christa." Lee said.

"DOES SHE?" Christa asked. "You think babying her is going to save her life! Lee, you have to let her grow up! She's too old for you to be looking after her!" Lee built up a scowl and was about to reply until Christa turned away from him and looked to Clementine. "Clementine, get that fire lit and keep it going." Christa watched the child with a glare of her own aimed at the eleven year old.

Clementine got up from the log and approached the fire. She knelt down on the ground and took off her backpack as Lee and Christa watched the child bring the fire back to life. Clementine reached within her backpack and pulled out her lighter and a piece of wadded up paper. She carefully lit the piece of paper and placed it in the fire which brought the fire back to life.

She got back up and looked to Lee and Christa with a smile. Lee returned the smile, but Christa showed no signs of emotion besides anger. "Good." Christa said. "Now, I'm going to go out and find some more wood." She left to go further into the woods leaving Clementine and Lee.

"You did a good job." Lee said.

"Thanks… I feel like all I ever do anymore is mess up." Clementine said as she lowered her head.

Lee looked to the girl with sad eyes and said, "Aw, honey, you're doing a good job. You're getting better each day."

Usually his words were able to help Clementine cope with the pain of how Christa was treating her, but not this time. She continued to look down with a frown. Her eyes stared at the ground and she gripped her left arm with her right hand. Lee sighed and said, "I'm going to go talk to Christa. Will you be alright here by yourself?" Lee asked.

Clementine nodded without looking up but she did release her left arm. Lee got up and picked up his axe just in case there were walkers roaming around. He walked in the direction that Christa had stormed off in as Clementine continued to do all she could for the fire.

Further into the woods, Lee saw Christa checking some of the wood to see if it would be dry enough to burn. He approached her as she threw a stick to the ground with a frustrated groan. "What do you want, Lee?" Christa asked. She turned to him with her hands on her hips and a glare aimed at him.

"Christa, I need you to calm down." Lee said as he returned the glare. "When you first met Clementine, you thought the world of her, but now…"

"A lot of things have changed, Lee." Christa said.

"No, you're the only one who has changed Christa." Lee said. "Everything else is still the same. It's been the same shit, day in and day out."

"Babying her is only going to get her killed, Lee." Christa said.

"And you think scolding her and treating her like shit is fine?" Lee asked.

"If it means that it helps her to survive, then yes. I will scold her to keep her alive." Christa said.

"Christa, she's afraid of you. We can teach her to survive without scolding her. There's another way." Lee said.

"No, there isn't." Christa said. "Out here, it's life or death, and she won't understand that if we try to teach her. She needs to know the severity of how damn awful it is out here."

"She knows how bad it is, Christa." Lee argued.

"Does she? Does she know how close she is to dying on a daily basis? Does she know how many awful people are out here… who are willing to take anything they want… without any consequences?" Christa asked.

Lee's eyes widened in realization when heard Christa. "You aren't worried about her surviving. You want to punish her for what happened to Omid and your child." Lee said.

Christa's eyes lit up in surprise before she quickly punched Lee. Lee placed his hand over his cheek as he looked to Christa with disappointed eyes. He never thought that she would resort to violence. However, she was unaffected and she looked to him with an intense glare. "F*** you." Christa said. "Go and get back to camp, now."

Lee allowed his hand to fall to his side and he proceeded back to the camp until a man with a handgun approached him. Lee had no time to use his axe and instead he backed away. "Neither of you f****** are going anywhere." The unknown man said. Two more men came out of the surrounding brush. One was armed with a machete while the other was armed with a hunting rifle.

"Where's the rest of your group?" The man with the hunting rifle inquired.

"We're by ourselves." Lee said.

"Bullshit!" The one armed with a machete exclaimed.

"He's lying!" The one armed with a hunting rifle exclaimed.

"Cut the crap, man!" The one armed with the handgun said as he aimed at Lee.

"It's just us!" Lee exclaimed.

Suddenly, a rock flew by and hit one of the men on the head. It was followed by Clementine's voice. "Christa, daddy, run!" Clementine exclaimed before she darted off into the woods.

"Hey get back here!" The man armed with the machete exclaimed as he chased after the girl. Christa took off running while the man armed with the hunting rifle chased after her and managed to fire at Christa's leg. She yelled out in pain but she limped away from the man armed with the hunting rifle. However, he was catching up to her.

Meanwhile, Lee quickly ducked from being shot at by the man armed with the handgun and took a swing with his axe across the man's stomach. The man yelled out in pain and dropped his handgun to grip his new wound. Blood poured out of the wound as he fell to his knees. He hissed in pain until Lee took another swing with his axe and sliced open the man neck. The hit made the man fall to the ground and he started to choke on his own blood, but Lee didn't care.

Lee turned around and looked to the two branching paths. He would have to choose either to save Clementine or Christa. The decision wasn't easy, but he knew that he would never be the same without his adopted daughter. So Lee ran down the path to go find her. "Clementine!" Lee exclaimed in search of the girl. He ran down the path and found a walker which had been stomped on and some traces of blood. "F*** no." Lee muttered.

However, hope returned to his features when he heard the girl. "Leave me alone!"

"Stop f****** kicking!" Another voice sounded. Lee ran for the direction of the voices, but he was stopped by a couple of walkers. He quickly swung his axe and hit the first walker. The second walker approached him and tried to bite down on him, but Lee wrestled the walker off and pushed it to the ground. He stomped on the walker's skull and kept running in the direction of where the voices had originated.

He was surprised to see several walkers ripping a man apart. He was the same man that chased after Clementine. Lee went into action and killed any and all walkers that got near him. He looked around until he noticed Clementine's footprints. They led straight to the river. She must have fell in while trying to avoid the walkers. "Dammit." Lee muttered before he swung his axe at another walker. He wrestled his way away from the small herd and started to follow the river. "Please be okay, sweet pea. Please be okay." Lee said under his breath.

* * *

Clementine's eyes fluttered open and she started to cough. She shuttered from the pain that was coming from her stomach. She must have hit something when she fell down into the river. She slowly got up and looked around on the shore of the river bank. None of the landmarks were familiar to her even though she was miles downstream.

"Hello!" Clementine called out. She went along the river bank and saw several wrecked canoes. She looked down and sighed before she kept walking and discovered a destroyed boardwalk. She looked around it to see if there was another way up but there wasn't. She sighed and bent her knees to try and grab the edge of the boardwalk. She didn't jump high enough the first time, so she tried again.

She succeeded the second time and pulled herself up, but it was obvious that she was in some pain. She was sore. Her whole body ached for food and rest, but the girl couldn't oblige. She walked up the boardwalk and entered a clearing. The clearing had a couple of graves in the far left of it, while on the far right there was a dead walker with a flagpole sticking out of its skull.

"Daddy!" Clementine called out. "Christa!"

Upon receiving no response, Clementine started to walk down a trail. She held her left arm with her right hand once again. She felt extremely vulnerable; she couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was going to attack her. The trees didn't help with the atmosphere. They stood over her with an intimidating look. Clementine then saw a fallen tree on the path. She easily climbed over it and kept going.

She concentrated on the trees until a flock of crows came out of nowhere. Clementine gasped and took a couple of steps back. She huffed to get her bearing and started down the path again. The cool wind blew by which made her shiver. Winter was coming and she was slightly worried. Her upper body had little warmth and her jeans were starting to become ragged and torn. She stopped and gasped when she heard a rustle from the nearby bushes. She slowly crept up to the bushes and peered over them.

On the other side of the bushes was a dog. His sandy fur coat looked filthy. It sniffed the ground until it heard the young girl. At first, Clementine was ecstatic to see a dog. It had been a very long time since she has seen one. Her enthusiasm gave out when the dog started to growl at her. "Easy boy, it's okay." Clementine said as she slowly went to pet the dog. She did so but it did little to calm the dog, "Right, I shouldn't do that anymore. Sorry."

Suddenly the dog perked up and started to walk in the opposite direction. He started sniffing the ground and was going in the opposite direction. "What's he doing?" Clementine asked. Suddenly, the dog looked up and ran off. "Wait, what'd you find boy?" She followed the dog to another clearing where an abandoned campsite was. The dog sniffed around as the girl looked through some of the boxes. The campsite was completely destroyed. Pots, pans, and empty food cans littered the area. One of the tents was burnt to a crisp while the other laid in shatter pieces. And a rusted out van sat near the edge of camp. Clementine spent quite a bit of time looking for something to eat but was unsuccessful.

Soon, Clementine found a flying disc and looked over to a happy dog. He somehow still remembered what the flying disc was for. She smiled and threw the flying disc telling the dog to fetch it. The dog ran along and caught it while it was in midair. He brought the flying disc back and Clementine threw it a couple more times until she accidentally threw it too far. "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted." Clementine said with a frown forming on her lips.

Clementine's stomach growled even louder and she clutched it. She needed to find food and quickly. She then noticed a trashcan. She sighed and said, "It's the only thing that I haven't checked yet." She went over and pulled up her sleeves to search through the garbage. She finally felt something and took it out of the trash and looked at it. It was a can of beans and it seemed heavy in her hand. "There is something in here; I just hope it's not rotten."

She then heard the dog bark at something by the tree. "What is it boy?" She walked over to see the dog barking at a tied up walker with a knife sticking out of its shoulder. "It's okay boy." Clementine said. "He isn't going to hurt anyone." She then noticed the knife that stuck out of the walkers shoulder and said, "I could use that to open the can." She reached for the knife but the walker pulled away and tried to grab onto her arm. Clementine sighed before she remembered that there were some tools in the van. She walked over to the vehicle and pulled out a rusted wrench. She walked back to the walker and raised the wrench to attack the walker. She grunted as she took her first swing. The creature groaned showing that it was still alive, so Clementine attacked it again. She started to huff from the effort of killing the creature until she heard its groan again. She swung the wrench again while kicking herself mentally. Lee would have killed it on his first swing. Finally, Clementine swung one last time and killed the walker. "Whew. Finally." Clementine huffed.

She grabbed the knife out of the walker's shoulder and cleaned it off the ground. She looked at the blade and said, "It still looks sharp." She went over to the log and used the knife to cut the top of the can. She smiled and exclaimed, "Yes! Thank you!" The contents of the can were still good. She made a couple more cuts until she could finally eat the beans.

After a couple of handfuls, Clementine could hear the dog whining. The dog sat at her feet and had a begging look to its face, "I guess you're hungry too." Clementine said and she offered a handful of beans to the dog. The dog snapped at the food and gulfed it down in one bit; however, he wasn't satisfied and snapped the can out of Clementine grasp.

"Hey, don't eat it all." Clementine said as she grabbed the can from the dog. The dog immediately growled and bit down on her arm. The dog possessed decent strength; he brought the girl to the ground. The dog then lunged for her but Clementine used her arm to keep the dog at a distance.

It snarled and growled as Clementine desperately reached for the knife. She slashed at the dog which made it loose its grip on her arm. Clementine brought her leg up and kicked the dog away. She backed away and whimpered in fear until she could hear the dog struggling. She crept to where one of the shattered tents were and saw the dog struggling to breathe. One of the broken poles went through his leg as another pierced through his body. Clementine looked at the dog with sympathetic eyes and a frown. She knelt down to put the creature out of its misery, while saying, "I'm… sorry."

She got back up and felt a stinging pain on her arm. She looked down at her arm and noticed that she had a bite mark on it. It was the dog's bite. She whimpered from the pain but continued on down the path. She expended too much energy back at the abandoned camp and was now exhausted. She looked over to a nearby rock and went towards it. She laid down next to a rock and allowed her eyes to droop. A little bit of sleep wouldn't hurt her, right?

Her eyes started to shut until she noticed a walker in the distance. She perked up and looked around to see several other walkers. She groaned as she struggled to get up. She struggled to walk and instead it looked more like stumbling. She would have ran, but her strength was weakening. She got a couple of feet until a walker knocked her over. It snarled and growled at her as she used all of her remaining strength to push it off of her but to no avail. Just as she was about to give up and let death take her, the walker's head was sliced clean off. She looked up to see two men attacking the walkers. One was armed with a machete and appeared to be younger, while the other was older and was carrying a crossbow.

The man armed with the machete lifted the walker off of her as the other man shot two more walkers. "I'm out. Grab her and let's go." The man with the crossbow said.

The man that took the walker off of her got down and picked her up. "Come on kid." He then lifted her as she yelped. The two men ran off with Clementine as fast as they could, all the while avoiding walkers left and right.

* * *

They finally stopped and the older man with the crossbow huffed, "I… I think we lost them."

"Yeah we're good." The younger man said. The two looked down to Clementine as she seemed to relax. "Hey kid, you alright?"

"I-I think so." Clementine replied.

"What are you doing out here? Where are the people you are with?" The older man asked concerned for the young girl.

"Yeah, because there's no way you made it all this way on your own." The younger man said.

"I was with my daddy and friend when we were attacked." Clementine said.

"Did the people who attacked you say they were looking for someone or something like that?" The older man asked.

"They may have wanted the food we had. We were cooking some sort of weasel." Clementine said.

"They attacked you for a weasel? Man, that's low." The younger man said. He put a smile on his face and said, "Well my name's Luke and this here's Pete." The younger man indicated to his older accomplice.

"Hi there." Pete said.

"Hi, I'm Clementine." The girl introduced herself to the men. She hadn't received a nice welcome from strangers for so long. It was refreshing.

"Well it's nice to meet you Clementine." Luke said and he looked down at her. "Pete and I are going to take you back to our cabin. You look like you could use some-" Luke stopped himself as he looked down at the bite on Clementine's arm and he jumped back. "Oh shit!" Luke exclaimed as he dropped her.

Clementine groaned when she hit the ground and Pete looked at Luke with a questionable stare. "What? What is it?" Pete asked.

"She's… She's been bit man." Luke said. He began to pace back and forth exclaiming, "Shit, shit! What are we going to do?"

"No, it was a dog." Clementine said.

"I didn't see a dog, Clementine." Pete said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Come on kid! We saw you with all of those lurkers back there." Luke said as he continued to panic.

"Please, believe me." Clementine pleaded. "It really was a dog."

"I'd like to kid, but I gotta believe my own two eyes first, and I didn't see a dog back there." Luke said with an unsympathetic tone in his voice.

Pete stood their contemplating his options and said, "Alright, let's take a look." He knelt down and started to roll up Clementine's sleeve.

"Hey watch yourself man." Luke warned. Clementine felt hurt that Luke would suggest that she was dangerous and looked at him with sad eyes. "Hey don't look at me that way. You're the one who's bit." Luke said as he turned to avoid her stare.

Pete examined the wound and pondered. "So is it as she says?" Luke asked.

"I don't know; it could be a dog." Pete said as he rolled down Clementine's sleeve. "So where did this dog go? The one that attacked you?"

"Why does that matter, Pete?" Luke asked.

"Because, I want to know how believable her story is." Pete said.

"I-I killed it." Clementine said with a frown forming on her lips.

"What? Really? A dog shows up and bites you, and you just kill it?" Luke criticized her.

"What would you have done?" Pete inquired.

"I don't know!" Luke responded.

"It attacked me." Clementine said.

"Still, you… you don't kill dogs." Luke said with a disappointed frown aimed at the girl.

"Would you have been happier if it killed me instead?" Clementine asked as she looked to the ground.

"What? No, I just…" Luke started to say but he was interrupted by Pete.

"I think you've said enough, boy. It obviously came down to either her or the dog." Pete said while brandishing a glare.

"I didn't mean it like that." Luke said as he raised his hands in defense.

"Yeah, well, it certainly is sounding like it!" Pete snapped.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Luke said. He turned to Clementine and said, "Look kid, I'm sorry, it's just with you bit. I'm a little on edge, okay?"

Pete huffed before he looked back to Clementine. "Clementine, are you telling us the truth? You look me in the eye when you answer."

The girl looked to him and said, "Yes."

"Hm…" Pete continued to ponder and said, "Alright, that's good enough for me."

"Well, what else was she going to say?" Luke asked.

"I got a good bullshit detector, Luke." Pete said as he helped the young girl up. "That's why you can't ever beat me in poker."

"You don't always…" Luke said but he trailed off and sighed. "How can you be sure?"

"Well, I'm sure that I ain't willing to leave a little girl out in the woods, when we have someone who could make a better call." Pete said.

Luke scowled and said, "Nick ain't going to like this, not after-"

"You don't need to remind me of that, boy!" Pete interrupted with a scowl forming in his features.

Luke lost his scowl and apologized, "Yes sir. Sorry sir." Pete lost his scowl and placed a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder. The two walked away with Clementine following behind. In the distance, she could see a cabin, but her vision was starting to become blurry.

The two men headed toward the cabin with Clementine struggling to keep up. Pete turned around and said, "Clementine, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine… I'm just… tired." Clementine replied.

"Yeah well you better be fine because I ain't carrying you with that bite on your arm." Luke said.

"Don't worry about…" Clementine couldn't finish her sentence as she fell to the ground with a thud.

"Ah shit." Luke grumbled and he and Pete ran to her as she fell to the ground.

* * *

Lee ran through the woods like a madman. He was desperate to find his adopted daughter ever since he picked up on her trail. He knew that she was close by. He entered an abandoned camp and noticed more of her footprints… and drops of blood. Something must have injured her. His eyes widened in worry and he ran over to the traces of blood. His worry soon subsided when he noticed a dead dog stuck in the broken poles for the tent. "That dog must have attacked her. At least it's not a walker. I'm finally getting closer. She was here recently." Lee said to encourage himself. He ran out of the camp and killed a couple of nearby walkers with his axe.

He continued to follow her trail despite the fact that exhaustion was starting to creep up on him. There were many benefits of being immune. For one, Lee could go without sleep for a slightly longer period of time, but he was really pushing his body for staying awake since yesterday morning. He looked down to the ground and noticed bigger footprints which took the place of the smaller ones that he was tracking. "Someone found her and went off with her. Dammit." Lee muttered and he ran for the direction that the bigger footprints were going.

Lee huffed as he spotted a cabin in the distance. That had to be it. There's nothing else around here that could be used to live in. He ran down the hill and eventually he found his way to a clearing. He stayed out of sight by staying in the brush and saw several people gathered around in front of the cabin. One seemed to be older and leaner than the others. Another looked like Kenny but younger; he had his hunting rifle aimed down. The other two were a pregnant woman and stocky man, but Lee's eyes widened when he saw the body of his adopted daughter on the ground in front of them.

Thankfully, he noticed the girl moving and a smile formed on his lips. She was alive! He ran out of the brush as soon as Clementine got up to run for the same direction that Lee was coming from. A smile formed on her lips as Lee could hear the young man of the group exclaim, "Hey!" There was a loud boom, but Lee ignored it… all that mattered to him was seeing Clementine safe.

"Dadd-AH!" Lee's world stopped as he watch his daughter cringe and she fell to the ground with the echoes of a thunderous boom in the background. Lee's eyes widened in horror and he felt like someone had just crushed his heart. His ex-wife's hurtful adultery fell woefully short to what Lee just saw. He fell down on his hands in knees and saw Clementine face down on the ground. She was unresponsive and there was a pool of blood forming under her.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: I'm going to get hate mail for this cliffhanger.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for all the yelling in this chapter. It was all necessary though. Also, there is a scene where we have some slice of life action going on… don't give me crap… please…**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"NNOOO…!" Lee cried as he crawled towards his daughter. He couldn't believe what just happened. He finally reached her and picked her up in his arms. He cradled the girl and cried out his pet name for her while he cried profusely. "Sweet pea. Come on. You can't die on me. Sweet pea." His voice was cracked as he looked over the delicate girl in his arms.

"F***. F***. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I… I-I didn't… oh f***." The young man said with his voice being shaky. The hunting rifle that he was carrying earlier was now on the ground. The group of people that Lee saw earlier all seemed remorseful after watching Lee's display of emotion except for the pregnant woman who was glaring at Lee.

Lee's sadness soon became blood-fueled rage and he gently placed Clementine on the ground. He looked up to the young man who had shot Clementine. Lee stood up and growled with his eyes glaring at the scared young man. "You. YOU KILLED HER!" Lee bellowed as he charged at the young man and forced him all the way to the porch with his hands wrapped around the young man's neck. "YOU TOOK HER FROM ME! YOU F****** MOTHERF****** ASSHOLE!" Lee continued to choke the life out of the young man as the group ran over to stop Lee from killing the young man.

"No, please stop! He did a stupid thing, I know that, but please he's all I got left!" The older man pleaded.

"I DON'T CARE!" Lee bellowed.

"Let him go! Otherwise, we'll have no choice but shoot you!" Another young man said.

"DO IT! THEN I CAN JOIN MY LITTLE GIRL!" Lee bellowed as he continued to choke the young man. The young man was starting to become limp in his grip, until another member came up to Lee and gripped his arm.

"Stop, your little girl is alive!" The man said. Lee immediately released his grip on the young man who fell to the ground gasping for air.

"Wha-?" Lee asked as tears formed in his eyes in the place of his rage.

"She's alive." The man said. He had a different accent compared to the others. "My name is Carlos. I was a doctor before all of this."

"Please, you have to help her. She's all I got left." Lee pleaded.

"We can't let her in. She's bit anyway." The pregnant woman said. She turned her gaze to Lee and her scowl worsened. "And after seeing what you did to Nick, I don't want you coming in."

"You think you would have acted any differently?" The other young man snapped. The pregnant woman turned her ice cold glare towards him as he continued. "He acted just like any of us would have reacted to the same situation!"

"F*** off, Luke." The pregnant woman snapped.

"Rebecca, Luke is right." Carlos said which surprised the pregnant woman. She turned her glare towards the doctor and he said, "I would have done the same if it was Sarah. He isn't wrong."

"Fine. Do whatever the f*** you want." Rebecca hissed. "When she turns, don't come crying to me." She stormed off for the cabin with the stocky man following her.

Lee looked to Carlos who sighed from the pregnant woman's outburst. "Go and get your little girl and then I need you to follow me." Carlos said.

Lee nodded and ran to the eleven year old. "I got you sweet pea." Lee said as he picked her up into his arms. Carlos waited for him as Lee got up. He looked to Carlos and the doctor led the way into the cabin. Lee followed while passing by the other residents of the cabin. They all seemed sympathetic for the girl that was in his arms, especially the young man who shot her.

Carlos led the way inside the cabin as Lee maneuvered his way in to avoid bumping his daughter's head. Carlos went to a set of stair with Lee following him. They headed up the stairs as the remaining cabin members entered. They were all whispering and continued to watch Lee as he carried the girl upstairs.

Carlos entered a bedroom and said, "Lay her down on that bed and I'll begin working on her." Lee obliged and he walked over to the bed. He couldn't help but tear up as he placed the girl on the bed. She seemed so peaceful… How could he have let this happen?

"This is all my fault." Lee said. "I should have stayed in that camp with her. If I had, this would have never happened."

He felt a comforting hand from the doctor and turned to him. "I know what you're going through. It's one of the worst things that a father could go through, but she's not dead… I will do my best to bring her back, but I have to start now."

Lee nodded before he got up and left the doctor to operate on his daughter. He entered the hallway and sighed. "Please God, please don't take her away from me." Lee pleaded in a prayer. He was quite spiritual. He had been a Christian all his life. He would wake up early most mornings and make a silent prayer to God of keeping him, Clementine, and Christa safe. Lee knew that God was still there. It was because of His blessing that he found Clementine, but now… Lee hoped that the girl would live. She was all he had left.

Lee made his way down the stairs. Exhaustion was starting to overwhelm him. He had been awake for forty-four hours and was absolutely exhausted. He went to the couch in the living room and allowed his tired body to rest on it

 **Hours Later**

It was morning… Lee was pacing back and forth in the kitchen still waiting on Carlos' diagnosis. The two young men that Lee had met yesterday sat at the dining table. Both looked to Lee with remorse as they also waited for Carlos' diagnosis. "F*** man. I really am sorry. I-I didn't mean to do that yesterday. I swear." The young man said.

"Nick… now's not the time, brother." The other young man said.

Suddenly, the door open which made Lee stop. It was Carlos! "Is she alright?" Lee asked with his eyes becoming wide. He couldn't wait for an answer. He needed to know now!

Carlos looked to Lee and said, "She's fine. She's resting right now; she's a lucky little girl. That bullet went straight through and didn't hit any organs, blood vessels, or arteries. She'll live."

"Oh, thank God. Thank you God." Lee said as he released sigh of relief.

"What about the bite?" The young man asked.

"It looked like a dog bite. I didn't think much of it. I cleaned it, stitched it, and wrapped it in gauze and medical wrap." Carlos said. However, it was apparent there was more. His smile turned into a frown which made all members in the room nervous. "I do have bad news though." Carlos said.

"Wh-What is it?" Lee asked.

"You might want to sit down for this. It's very… shocking." Carlos said. Lee obliged as his frown deepened. He didn't know how much more he could take. He sat down and looked to Carlos as the doctor sighed. "…That bullet had to have hit her spine… it's dead center in the lower back. I think she has partial paralysis."

Lee's world stopped again… This couldn't be happening… "She's-She's what?" Lee asked. He hoped that he didn't hear what he had just heard.

"She might be paralyzed from the waist down." Carlos said. "We won't know until she wakes up."

Lee started to hyperventilate. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be… paralyzed. It was hard enough out there when it was just him, Christa, and Clementine, but now he was looking at the possibility of having to go to Wellington with his little girl being crippled and solely reliant on him for almost everything. Heck, how was she going to react to the news? Would it devastate her? Would she lose hope? Lee released a sigh and muttered, "What am I going to do?"

"F***… How could I have f***** up so bad?" Nick exclaimed. He turned to Lee with sympathetic eyes and said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen man. Please you got to forgive me!"

"Nick… I know that you feel sorry for what happened, but you really just need to calm down and give him some space." The young man snapped at his friend.

Nick looked over to his friend with a glare. "Whatever, man." Nick muttered before he left for the door in the kitchen. There was a loud slam which indicated his departure. In response to his friend's outburst, the young man sighed.

"You and your little girl are welcomed to stay here with us." Carlos said to Lee.

"How long till she wakes up?" Lee asked as he looked back up.

"It might be a while. She was exhausted when she showed up here. She'll be out for another couple of hours." Carlos said.

"Thank you Carlos." The young man said.

The doctor nodded before he said, "You and Pete might want to go out and see about getting a wheelchair, just in case I am right."

"Yeah, we'll do a supply run after I talk to… um… I never really got your name." The young man said as he looked to Lee.

"It's Lee." Lee said.

"I'm Luke." The young man introduced himself.

"Well, I'm going to go check up on Sarah." Carlos said as he left out of kitchen and into the living room.

Lee turned around in his seat and placed his head in his hands. "Man… what a day…" Lee said.

Luke took the seat opposite to him and looked to him with an apologetic stare. "I'm sorry for what happened, but you should know that Nick didn't mean to… do what he did. It was just accident."

Lee looked up to Luke with anger returning in his eyes. "An accident that may cost my little girl her life. Two f****** years! I have protected her for two f****** years, and for what, for some reckless punk ass kid to shoot her and now she can't move!" Lee exclaimed with anger building up in his voice.

"I get it. I get it." Luke said as he raised his hands in surrender. "Nick did a stupid thing. I know that… we all know that, but he ain't a bad guy. He's been put through the mill… just like all of us."

Lee crossed his arms over his chest and hummed. He was unimpressed by the man's sentiment. "You think you've had it rough? You haven't been through shit. I lost my whole family at the very beginning of this thing, I had to kill my own f****** brother, my group tore itself apart which resulted in the death of someone that… that I cared for." Lee said. His anger was starting to give way to remorse as memories of Carley flashed through his mind. "And now, the only person that I have left is probably crippled. You know how bad it is out there. Do you really think she can survive out there?"

"Okay, look I know you're mad and you have every right to be… but there is a chance that Carlos is wrong and she may be a-okay." Luke said. "And even if Carlos is right, you won't be alone out there. Me and my group will help, okay? This isn't something you have to do on your own."

Lee huffed and looked down at the table. He didn't know if he should let Luke help him or not. "For Clementine's sake, I will trust you." Lee said.

Luke nodded with a smile forming on his lips. "You won't regret it. We will help you and your little girl."

Suddenly, Pete came in from the living room and looked to Luke. "You ready to go? Carlos just told me that we're going on a supply run at a nearby pharmacy. Doesn't he know that we picked that place clean?" Pete said.

"Yeah, I'll… I'll explain things on the way down." Luke said.

"Well, alright then." Pete replied. He looked to Lee and said, "Listen, thanks for not killing my nephew yesterday… He's a dumb, stupid boy sometimes, but his heart's in the right place."

"Yeah, I get it. I had a boy in my group just like him." Lee said.

"Anyway, thanks… and sorry that he shot your little girl. But I'd imagine she'll be up and kicking in no time." Pete said. Lee looked down with a frown and sighed. If only that statement was true.

"Let's go, Pete." Luke said. "Lee's been through a lot for the past couple of days."

"Yeah, okay." Pete said. Lee heard the door open and shut which signaled Luke's and Pete's departure.

Lee looked up and got out of his seat. He headed into the living room to see Carlos and a young girl playing chess. "Hey Carlos." Lee said to the doctor.

"Hello Lee. I believe you haven't met my daughter yet. This is Sarah." Carlos said as he gestured to the young girl.

"Hi sir." Sarah said.

"Sir? I'm not that old am I?" Lee asked with a sarcastic tone in his voice. Carlos chuckled in response, but Sarah didn't understand that Lee was only joking.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Sarah said.

"What? No I… I was only joking. Sorry." Lee said.

"Oh okay, sorry I'm not big on jokes." Sarah said.

Lee smiled to the girl. He knew that she and Clem would be good friends. He turned to Carlos and said, "So would it be alright if I go check on my girl?"

"That would actually help." Carlos said as he made a move with one of his pieces. "Come and get me when she wakes."

"Will do." Lee said. He turned to the stairs and went up to the room where Clementine was still resting. He still felt a tang of regret, but he would have to forget about it. He had to be encouraging for the girl, especially if she was paralyzed from the waist down.

He reached the top of the stairs and headed for the room until he heard footsteps coming up from behind him. "Don't think that you can play us like this." A voice snapped. The voice sounded familiar; it sounded like the hostile pregnant woman that Lee encountered yesterday. He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest upon seeing the woman.

"What are you talking about?" Lee asked. He looked to the woman with a glare.

"I'm talking about you and that little bitch playing us. I know you're working for Carver." Rebecca said.

Lee's scowl intensified and he stared down at Rebecca. "You listen to me. You call my girl that ever again or if you hurt her, I'll kill you." Rebecca was shocked by Lee's anger and was now starting to become intimidated by him. "She's already been put through enough of this world. The last thing she needs is to be put through even more hell from another asshole that thinks she's helping." Lee turned away from Rebecca and opened the door to Clementine. As much as he wanted to, He didn't slam the door shut since Clementine was still asleep.

He entered the room and saw that his daughter was still asleep on the bed. She was resting peacefully. It had been so long since she had been able to sleep soundly on a bed. He took a seat next to her and waited for her to wake… he wouldn't care how long it would take. He was going to be the first thing she sees when she would wake up.

 **One Hour Later**

Lee heard the moaning of Clementine waking up. She was finally awake. The room wasn't very dark since it was afternoon outside. He watched on as the girl stretched her upper body, but her lower body didn't respond… That wasn't good. She turned her amber orbs to Lee and a smile formed on her lips. "Daddy." Clementine said as she held her arms out for him to hug her. Lee bent down and hugged the girl. He missed her. Her sweet, kind voice always gave him hope in this doomed world.

They released each other from the hug, and Clementine looked to Lee with a frown. "What's wrong sweet pea?" Lee asked.

"I… I can't move my legs. Are they asleep or something?" Clementine asked.

Lee frowned momentarily and said, "I'll be right back. Just stay here, okay?" He rushed away from the girl before she could even object. He rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen. He saw the other members of the cabin inside the kitchen enjoying lunch. "Carlos, she's awake." Lee said.

Without a word, Carlos ran for the door and the two men ran up the stairs to the room that Clementine was in. Carlos turned on the light and went to Clementine. She was still in her blood drenched clothes. Lee would have to give her bath after Carlos had looked at her.

"Alright, Clementine, let me take a look at you." Carlos said. He went to the foot of her bed and pulled off her worn out shoe and her sock. "I want you to try and apply pressure to my thumb with your big toe, okay."

"Um… okay." Clementine said. She was obviously nervous about the whole scenario.

Carlos pushed down on her toe with his thumb, but it was obvious that there was no movement. "Are you pushing down?" Carlos asked.

"Yes." Clementine said. She tried to sit upright with the use of her arms so she could see what was happening.

Carlos huffed and looked to Lee with sympathetic eyes. He shook his head and got back up. "You should tell her what happened. I'm going to go get some of Sarah's clothes. Clementine might be a bit small for them, but they will keep her warm. Additionally, her bandages need changed… We also have running water here. You can give her a quick bath."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Lee said. Carlos nodded and left the room.

"Daddy, what's happening? Am I going to be okay?" Clementine asked.

Lee looked to the girl with a frown before he knelt down in front of her. "I'm sorry sweet pea, but… you're paralyzed from the waist down…" Lee said.

Clementine started to huff and her eyes widened in horror. Lee waited for the news to sink in as he placed a comforting grip on her hand. She looked to him with fear in her eyes. "Wh-What will happen to me now?" Clementine asked.

Lee smiled to her and said, "I'm going to be here for you. We're going to stay put for a couple of days and try to figure something out."

"What about Christa? Won't she be mad?" Clementine asked.

Lee shook his head and his smile was replaced with a frown. "Christa didn't make it, honey." Lee said.

"Oh…" Clementine said. "What will I do from now on?"

"Hmm… how about drawing…. Do you remember how much you liked to draw back at the motor inn?" Lee asked.

A grin formed on Clementine's face and she said, "Yes. I love to draw."

"See, you'll do that from now on." Lee said. "You let me handle the surviving part."

"That's good." Clementine said. She sighed and a frown formed on her lips. "Daddy… can I tell you something?"

"What is it, sweet pea?" Lee asked.

"I never really liked the outdoors that much. I only did all that stuff with me being a survivor and being able to do things so I could make you proud." Clementine said.

"Sweet pea. You should have said something." Lee said.

"It's not like it would have mattered." Clementine said. "We had to keep moving to survive. We were always moving… I didn't like that either. I'm more of a homebody."

"I think we all are, sweet pea." Lee said with a smirk.

Clementine smiled and she looked around the room. "I like it. It feels really nice in here."

Carlos walked back through the door with some medical wrap and gauze on top of a couple pairs of clothes and a towel. "I was able to find some clothes that Sarah can't fit into anymore."

"Thanks Carlos." Lee said. He turned back to Clementine and asked, "You ready for a bath?"

"You have no idea how much I would like to take a bath again." Clementine said with a smile forming on her lips.

"Good, it'll be like old times when I would help you bathe at the motor inn." Lee said as he placed one hand under her back and another under her knees.

"I'll help you with her." Carlos offered as he walked out of the door and toward the bathroom. Lee followed with Clementine in his arms. The two walked into an admittedly impressive bathroom. Carlos was over by the bathtub with the water running.

Meanwhile, Lee walked over to sit down on the toilet and placed Clementine on his lap. "I know this is going to feel uncomfortable, but I'm going to have to help you bathe."

"I'm alright with that. You used to help me all the time." Clementine said with a smile on her lips.

"I know, but that was back when you were nine… now you're…" Lee said.

"Eleven… you adopted me, remember? You're supposed to help me unless you want to change your mind." Clementine said with her smile turning into a frown and her head looking down.

"What? No, honey. I just don't want to make you uncomfortable, and I'm afraid that will happen." Lee said as he lifted her head up to his smile.

"Well, I'm not going to be uncomfortable. I love you and I trust you." Clementine said as she returned the smile.

"Well, it's up to you to get her washed." Carlos said as he stood up from the bathtub. "You'll need to replace her bandages, but that should be easy enough. Come get me if… something doesn't look right or you need help."

"Got it. Thanks Carlos." Lee said.

"Yeah, thank you so much." Clementine said. Carlos smiled to the girl before he exited the bathroom.

"Okay, sweet pea… let's get you washed, and then I'm probably in need of getting washed up too." Lee said.

"Okay." Clementine said. Lee huffed before he started to help Clementine in removing her torn and filthy clothes. It was surprising how quick they had become so used. He also removed the bandages that Carlos talked about before he picked her up again and placed her in the water.

"You okay?" Lee asked.

Clementine smiled and said, "Much better than those bathes at the motor inn. The water's really warm."

"I'm glad to hear it." Lee said. He grabbed a washcloth and wetted it before placing a bar soap on it.

"What can I do to help you?" Clementine asked.

Lee started to apply the washcloth to her torso and said, "See if you can get your hair."

Lee continued to bathe the girl as she reached for the conditioner. She placed some of the conditioner in her hand and placed the condition back on the rim of the bathtub. She then applied it to her hair and asked, "Do you think I could let my hair grow out since I won't be out there in the thick of it anymore?" She finished applying the conditioner and rinsed her hair with the water.

She applied the shampoo on her hair next with the same steps. "I think it would be best if we waited for a little while sweet pea. When we get inside Wellington, then you can let your hair grow out. Till then, keep it short." Lee said.

"Okay." Clementine said with a frown forming on her lips. She wanted to let her hair grow out again ever since she had to cut it.

"Okay, I'm going to turn you around so I can get your back. You ready?" Lee asked.

"Ready." Clementine said. Lee proceeded to turn her on her belly and started to lather the girl's back. He noticed the gunshot wound in her lower back. The wound was stitched up and didn't seem so horrific, but it still sent chills down Lee's spine. His little girl was now paralyzed because of the wound. Lee finally finished and turned Clementine on her back.

"You seemed very refreshed." Lee said as he lifted her out of the tub.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better. Thanks for giving me a bath, daddy." Clementine said.

"You're welcome, sweet pea." Lee said. He walked over to the toilet and sat down with her on his lap again. He then began the tedious process of drying her off. Thankfully, she helped him by drying off her upper body while he hung onto her so she wouldn't fall. He finished drying off the rest of her body with the towel. Lee then dressed her gunshot and dog bite wounds, and finally finished by placing her into a new outfit provided by Carlos.

Lee wasn't too surprised that the clothes did fit her, since Sarah was tiny for her age. Clementine still wore her coveted blue and white hat, but she now wore a purple hooded sweatshirt over a white shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

"I'll put your socks on when we get you in bed, okay?" Lee said.

"Okay." Clementine said. Lee lifted her from his lap and he exited the bathroom. He took her to the room that she had been in and gently laid her back on the bed.

"So what do you need from me?" Lee asked as he picked up one of her feet and started to place one of her newly acquired socks on it.

"I don't know. I'm kind of hungry, and I'd like to have something to do for a little while." Clementine said.

"Well that makes two of us." Lee said as he finished with the other sock. "Now, how about we get something to eat. We'll ask Carlos' daughter, Sarah, if we can borrow a book from her, and then I can take a shower."

"Okay." Clementine said. Once again, Lee lifted her from the bed and carried her out of the room. They walked down the stairs and Lee entered the kitchen. He placed her on a chair and gathered up the leftovers from lunch.

He approached her with some of the leftovers on a plate and the two started to eat. "Will you always have to carry me around? That'll probably get tiring for you." Clementine said.

"Luke and Pete went out to get you a wheelchair." Lee said.

"Oh…" Clementine said as she looked down at the plate of food. "They both saved my life after a dog bit me."

"Yeah, I saw a dog in an abandoned campsite." Lee said.

"Luke was nice until he saw the bite… He then became kind of mean." Clementine said.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to be. He was probably just scared, honey." Lee said.

"Yeah, I'll have to thank them when they come back." Clementine said.

"That's my girl." Lee said.

Suddenly, both heard the door open. They looked over to see Nick. He seemed very exhausted, but at the same time, he was scared. He closed the door to the outside and headed for the table. "Hey, how are you doing?" Nick asked Clementine while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm… okay." Clementine said as she looked to the young man with scared eyes. She knew that he was the one who shot her.

"I, uh… Are you able to walk?" Nick asked. His whole body shook in fear; he hoped that the girl would say yes, and then he could find some relief from the stressful day. However, Clementine shook her head and Nick was left almost speechless. His mouth was wide open in shock. "No… you gotta be lying. How did you get down here? How did you get into those clothes?"

"Daddy helped me." Clementine said as she gestured to Lee.

"F***! Come on man. I know you probably hate my guts, but I really didn't mean to shoot her." Nick said.

"Look kid, we've all had a bad day. Let's just move on, but I want to make this clear." Lee said with a serious tone in his voice. "You owe my little girl your life, now. You're the reason why she's paralyzed."

"Yeah, I know. I get it. I owe her from now." Nick said.

"Alright then. Let's just move on." Lee said.

"Right… thanks." Nick said as he left with a somewhat clean conscience. Lee huffed before he went back to enjoying his meal.

Clementine finished her meal rather quickly since she was hungry and she didn't eat much to begin with. Lee soon followed and he picked her up in his arms. "I like being in your arms. I feel really safe when you pick me up." Clementine said.

"I'm glad to hear that sweet pea. I'll be having to do it more often." Lee said as he walked her out of the kitchen. He smiled upon seeing Sarah at the couch. He walked up to her and asked, "Hey Sarah, could Clem borrow one of your books. I'm going to go up and take a shower."

"I wouldn't mind." Sarah said. "However, would you be interested in playing a game of chess?" She looked to Clementine who shrugged.

"I don't know how to play." Clementine said.

"That's fine. I can teach you." Sarah said.

"Hmm… sure. I think it sounds cool." Clementine said.

"Well alright." Lee said as he placed Clementine down on the opposite couch.

"Okay, it's a little complicated, but here's how it works…" Sarah said as Lee left for the bathroom. He grabbed a towel and washcloth and headed for the shower.

He removed his clothes and allowed the warm water of the shower to soak away his troubles. Christa was more than likely dead, Clementine is paralyzed, and now he's going to have to rely on this new group. Carlos seemed like a nice guy and his daughter would be a positive influence on Clementine's life, but Nick was too reckless, Luke was freaked out too easily, and Rebecca was fully convinced that he and Clementine were working for someone. Pete seemed like a wise man and tried to always seek out the truth. However, Lee couldn't figure out what to make of the stocky man that he saw yesterday since he didn't have much contact with him.

Either way, things were going to become much harder for him.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Well, there's a shocking surprise. I didn't make Carlos a dick for once. Also, I do not want to see hate mail. So READ THIS BEFORE YOU REVIEW! I do not know how shitty it is to be paralyzed. All I know is that it sucks. This Fic is not meant to poke fun at people who are paralyzed in any way, so don't give me shit. And thank you for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

 **2 Weeks Later**

The sunlight shone through the windows of the living room causing the thirty-nine year old man in the room to awake. Lee yawned and stretched upon being awoken by the morning sun. It was quite refreshing, but at the same time, not welcomed. Lee got up and looked around the room. His eyes stopped upon seeing the wheelchair that Luke and Pete got a couple weeks ago for Clementine. She had put it to good use downstairs, but it was clear that she liked being in her room more. She truly was a homebody.

He got up and walked upstairs to go check on his adopted daughter. He cracked the door open to see Clementine still asleep. He smiled before he closed the door. He went back downstairs and decided that he would cook breakfast for the survivors since they had been nice enough to help him with Clementine. The only person who hasn't helped or even trusted the duo was Rebecca. She still believed that Lee and Clementine were working for someone. Lee shook his head to forget the woman's unnecessary suspicion and went into the kitchen. He started up the stove and started making oatmeal for the cabin survivors.

He was lost in thought as he made the oatmeal. He thought back to his days at the motor inn where Clementine was perfectly healthy. Of course, she seemed less happy back then with the food shortage and the boring atmosphere of the motor inn. It was safe, but at the same time, it wasn't the best place to raise a child.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when Nick and Pete entered the kitchen and dining room. "Hey there, Lee. Decided to make some breakfast for us?" Pete asked.

"Yeah, trying to anyway. I never was a master chef." Lee said.

"Believe me, you're leagues above Nick. His food will try to eat you." Pete joked.

"F*** you, Pete. Why are you always giving me such a hard time for?" Nick said.

"Relax, boy. I'm only joking. Geez… can't have any fun with you, can I?" Pete said. He turned back to Lee and said, "Nick and I are going to go check the fish traps by the river. Tell the others for us."

"Sure thing." Lee said. The uncle and nephew duo went out the door leaving Lee in silence again, but not for long.

The next person to come in was Sarah and Carlos. "Morning Lee." Sarah said.

"Morning. You're an early riser." Lee said.

"She gets it from her mother." Carlos said.

"I wish Clem was the same way. No matter what time I put her to bed, she seems to always wake up in the middle of the morning." Lee said.

"Some kids are like that." Carlos said. He looked to the mixing pot on the stove and asked, "What are we having?"

"Oatmeal." Lee responded.

"So the same thing we have every morning." Carlos said with a chuckle.

"Pretty much." Lee said. "Trust me, there were days out there where I would be ecstatic to have something to eat."

"I guess you're right. It could be worse." Carlos said as he went to grab a bowl. Sarah joined him and grabbed a bowl for herself.

Lee stepped away from the stove and allowed the two to get a bowl of oatmeal. He looked back to the door just in time to see Luke come in.

"Hey, Lee, you're up early." Luke said.

"Yeah, I decided to make some breakfast." Lee said as he gestured to the cooking pot.

"Thanks, we appreciate it." Luke said. He looked around the room and said, "Strange. Pete's usually up at the crack of dawn."

"He and Nick went to go check on the fish traps at the river." Lee said.

"Hey, that's good. We might have salmon tonight." Luke said.

Suddenly, Alvin and Rebecca came into the dining room. Lee had learned over the past couple of weeks that Alvin truly was one of the few kind souls left in this wretched world. He would always try to help out, and he had such a kind attitude towards people. However, he would always side with his wife, Rebecca, even if it went against his own morals.

"The f*** is going on here?" Rebecca spat. She was in her typical sour mood.

"Lee made us some breakfast." Luke said. "Don't you think that was kind of him?"

"Yeah right. It's probably poisoned." Rebecca said as she glared at Lee.

"Rebecca, please, Lee's been with us for weeks now. We can trust him." Alvin said. He was hoping to dissolve the situation, but he may have made it worse.

"Oh that's right. You and that heathen should have been gone by now. You should have left here a week and a half ago. You have more than overstayed your welcome." Rebecca said as she kept a constant glare aimed at Lee.

"Rebecca, you're the only one who thinks that way. No one else here wants Lee or Clementine to leave." Luke said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Rebecca shot a glare at Luke and said, "Really? Do none of you see how he's playing you? He's using us!" No one responded to the pregnant woman's ranting. Carlos and Sarah continued to eat. Luke just stared at her with a confused stare. Lee looked to her with a glare. And Alvin remained quiet to avoid the wrath of his wife. "So, just me then. Fine." She looked to Lee and said, "If anything happens to any of us, we'll all know that it was your fault, and when that happens, we're going to finish off your little girl."

"Look, I just made you breakfast! I didn't want it to turn into a f******* fiasco, but of course, nothing is simple with you!" Lee said as he stomped out of the kitchen.

"F*** YOU!" Rebecca exclaimed. She stormed out of the kitchen as well but she went outside while Lee went upstairs to retrieve Clementine.

"Rebecca, baby!" Alvin exclaimed as he chased after the woman. He heard the door open and slam shut which was followed by the same door opening, but being closed this time.

Lee huffed as he continued to climb the stairs. "The nerve of that woman… I swear…" Lee muttered as he approached Clementine's room. Lee huffed and tried to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted to do was take his aggression out on Clementine. He turned the door knob and opened the door to see her reading a book. The room was dark, but she was able to read it with the use of the lamp next to her.

She looked up and smiled to Lee. "Morning daddy." Clementine said.

"Morning sweet pea." Lee said as he walked over to her. "It's time for breakfast honey."

"Aw… but I'm not done reading my book." Clementine said. It was surprising on how quickly she had adjusted to her new life. She seemed more relaxed and less tired. It was proof that she didn't like life on the road.

"You'll get to finish at some other point. Let's go eat." Lee said. He pulled the covers off of her as she placed her book down on her nightstand. He picked her up and started to carry her out of the room. He walked down the stairs and placed her in her wheelchair.

She made her way to the kitchen with Lee right behind her. Clementine got inside and started to maneuver toward the table. "Morning, Clem. How are you doing?" Luke asked.

"I'm good." Clementine said as she found her spot which was at the end of the table. Lee brought over her bowl of oatmeal and placed it in front of the girl. "Thanks daddy." Clementine said with a smile aimed at her adoptive father.

"You're welcome, sweet pea." Lee said before he went back to grab his own bowl of oatmeal. He then joined everyone else at the table.

Carlos finished his oatmeal rather quickly and said, "I better go check on Rebecca. She's getting close to having that baby." He looked to Sarah and said, "Sarah, make sure you play with Clementine today."

"I will dad. We always hang out." Sarah said. Clementine nodded with a smile in confirmation.

"Good. I'm sure Luke and Lee have things to do today." Carlos said as he turned his gaze to Luke.

"Actually, I do need help today, if you don't mind." Luke said.

"Yeah, sure." Lee said.

"Don't worry about Clem. I'll help her if she needs anything." Carlos said.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Lee said. Carlos smiled to him before he exited the kitchen.

"So what do you need help on?" Lee asked.

"I'll tell you when you're done eatin. Gotta keep your strength up." Luke said as he got up. "Come get me when you're ready."

"Got it." Lee said. Luke walked over and placed his bowl in the sink before he went to the living room. Lee looked back down to the oatmeal he prepared and started eating some. He could hear Sarah's and Clementine's chatter in the background as he continued to eat.

"So what'd you think of that book I gave you?" Sarah asked.

Clementine took a gulp of the oatmeal that she was eating and said, " _The Guurgles_? It's really intense but really cool."

"I know right." Sarah said.

"Do you have any other books that are like _The Guurgles_?" Clementine asked.

"Hmm… how about _The Way to the Dawn_? It's like a tense adventure/romance." Sarah said.

"That's really cool." Clementine said.

Lee enjoyed hearing their conversations, but he knew that he had a job to do for Luke. "I'm going to go help Luke, sweet pea."

"Okay daddy. Be careful." Clementine said to her father.

"You know it." Lee said. He got up and placed his bowl in the sink. He walked over to the door and went through it to get to the living room. He saw Luke near the door to go outside and approached him.

Luke looked up from examining his machete and said, "Hey there, you ready to go out there."

"Yeah, I'm ready." Lee said as he picked up his axe which was leaning near the door way. Luke nodded and the two walked outside.

* * *

"Alright, so we need some firewood for the upcoming winter." Luke explained as the two men walked up to the stump. "Alvin and I usually do it, but he's busy looking after Bec today, so it's me and you."

"Alright then." Lee said as he walked up to the stump and placed some wood on it as Luke did the same. Lee grunted and slammed his axe down on the plank, while Luke did the same on his stump.

"Listen, I know Bec is giving you a lot of shit back there, but maybe you ought to tone it down." Luke said. "She's had a lot of pressure on her for the last couple of months especially with that f****** guy chasing us."

"I don't care if she gives me shit. I can deal with that, but I won't tolerate her hurting Clem. She's gone through enough." Lee said as he brought his axe down on another piece of wood.

"Look, I get it. You just want to keep your little girl safe especially after what happened. But you have to realize that Rebecca is not the main threat. Carver is the guy that you need to watch out for." Luke said as he chopped another piece of wood.

"You haven't talked much about this Carver guy. What aren't you telling me?" Lee asked.

"What is there to tell?" Luke said. "He's some crazed psychopath that is hunting us down. He used to be our leader, but then… well, we saw all the things that he did that were wrong. It-It wasn't good." He looked up to Lee with a solemn stare and asked, "Have you… Have you ever been in a group where someone does a complete 180 and starts acting like the opposite of who you trusted?"

"Yeah, I have. I was with this woman named Christa. She thought the world of my girl, at first, but then her boyfriend was killed." Lee said. "Clem would constantly think it was her fault, and Christa made sure that she thought that way."

"Damn… now I know why you're so protective of her." Luke said.

"I made Clementine go through a march in hell with that woman." Lee said with a frown on his face. "I wanted to save Christa but… some people are just not savable." He brought his axe down on another plank.

"So where's Christa now?" Luke asked.

"Dead, hopefully." Lee said with a dark cold tone to his voice.

"That's kind of brutal. I mean, she was your friend." Luke said.

"WAS my friend. She's not anymore. In the end, she showed that she didn't give a rat's ass for Clementine, even after everything I did for her and her late boyfriend." Lee said.

"That's why you don't like Rebecca. She reminds you of Christa." Luke said. Lee took another swing and chopped another piece of wood. "That's good enough for now. Let's head back to the house." Luke said.

"Okay." Lee said. The two men gathered their firewood and headed back to the house. Lee was especially anxious to return since he didn't like leaving Clementine alone because of her new condition. They walked out of the woods and approached the house.

"Okay, one question plagues my mind. I know that you and Clem are nothing alike. So is she adopted or something?" Luke said.

"Yeah, she is. I adopted her on her tenth birthday." Lee said.

"What about her real parents?" Luke asked.

Lee stopped altogether and looked down. Horrible memories of what happened flashed through his head. "Lee?" Luke said as he stared at Lee with worry in his eyes.

Lee looked up and said, "At some point, someone kidnapped my girl. I was able to get her back, but we had to go through a herd."

"Go through a herd? Of lurkers? There's no way. They would have torn you two apart." Luke said.

"Not exactly. I went through a smaller herd to get to the motel that she was being held at. As I got there, I got more and more of the walker's entrails on me. Eventually, they couldn't tell me from one of them. After I got her out of that motel, she… saw her real parents… they were walkers. She was so terrified that I had to carry her." Lee said.

"Oh man… that's rough. I never knew that…" Luke said. "You guys really haven't had it easy. Even she had to go through some rough shit." The two men stopped in front of a wood pile and dropped the fire wood that they had been busy chopping that day.

Lee checked his watch and was amazed that it read two in the afternoon. "Hmm… we missed lunch." Lee said as he looked up from his watch.

"Well, that's what happens when you wake up late and spend your day talkin." Luke said with a smirk forming on his lips.

The two headed back inside to see Clementine and Sarah playing a game of chess. Clementine was pondering her next move while Sarah looked up to the two men. "Hey, my dad was looking for you guys earlier. I think he's in the kitchen."

"Okay, thanks Sarah." Luke said.

Sarah nodded as Clementine made move and said, "Check."

"Wait what?" Sarah said as she looked back to the board. "Clem, how did you…?" Clementine smiled in victory as Sarah tried to figure out her next move. Luke and Lee walked toward the door to the kitchen as the girls continued in their game of chess.

"What's up?" Luke asked upon entering the kitchen with Lee close behind him. Both were surprised to see that Carlos was accompanied by Alvin and Rebecca. They were also surprised to see that Pete and Nick weren't back yet. "What's going on?"

Rebecca sent a glare towards Lee and said, "Let's talk in private. Last thing we need is one of Carver's f****** spies hearing every word we say."

"Rebecca, please. Now is not the time for this." Carlos said.

"Look, fine. I'll go in the other room and look after the girls." Lee said.

"No, you need to hear this." Carlos said. His eyes darted to the other three survivors and he sighed. "Nick and Pete haven't made it back yet. Now it is possible that Carver may be behind this, but it is also possible that they were attacked by bandits or lurkers."

"We need to go out there and find them in other words." Luke said.

"That's right." Carlos said.

"I gotta go. My best friend is out there." Luke said.

"I'll go too." Alvin said.

"No, you can't, Alvin." Rebecca said in an almost pleading manner. "Have someone else go."

"I can't baby." Alvin said. "You need to stay here and keep yourself and the baby safe. Both Lee and Carlos have to stay to keep their daughters safe."

Rebecca opened her mouth to fight back, but nothing came out. She released a defeated sigh as Alvin looked to Luke with a nod. Luke nodded back and went to the living room.

"Be safe out there." Lee said to Alvin as the stocky man comforted his wife.

"I will." Alvin said. Luke returned with a handgun and the two men waked out of the cabin.

Rebecca's worry quickly turned into raw hate. She turned to Lee and said, "If anything… anything happens to my husband out there, it'll be all your fault. You should have been the one to go with Luke." Lee crossed his arms over his chest and watched the woman storm out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Lee turned back to Carlos and said, "Well, she's pleasant."

"She's not always like that." Carlos said.

"She is when she's around me." Lee said.

"I know. It's going to take some time for her to understand who you are." Carlos said. "In the meantime, we can both take a time out from all the stress and just talk." Carlos said.

"I like that idea." Lee said. The two sat at the table and enjoyed a cup of coffee and some conversations of their daughters when they were younger. However, dinner came and the four cabin survivors hadn't returned.

"I'd better make supper. Won't mind helping me?" Carlos asked as he got up from the table and walked over to the stove. Lee got up and joined alongside him.

"Sure, what do you need?" Lee asked.

"Well, I'd say we'll have some baked potatoes and some stew." Carlos said.

"I like the sound of that." Lee said.

"Where are they?" The two men heard from behind. They looked to see Rebecca. She seemed very jittery and stressed.

"They haven't come back yet." Carlos said.

"What?" Rebecca exclaimed. "We need to go out there!"

"Rebecca calm down. They've only been out there for three hours. Let's just give them a chance." Carlos said in an attempt to calm her down. It must have worked since she didn't fight back. She went back into the living room.

Without another word the two men made dinner and invited the two girls and the pregnant woman into the kitchen. Supper was eerily quiet. No one wanted to speak since none of them wanted Rebecca to snap. The pregnant woman kept her gaze on the door and refused to eat while everyone else finished their meal.

Carlos sighed and said, "Rebecca, you need to eat. We'll go out to find the others tomorrow."

"We should do it now." Rebecca said.

"It's too late. It's too dangerous to go out there at night." Carlos said.

"My husband is out there." Rebecca argued.

"They're all out there." Carlos said. "We'll leave at first light."

"Good." Rebecca said. She got up from the table and walked out into the living room.

Carlos sighed and turned to Lee. "Could you look after Sarah tomorrow?" Carlos asked.

"Sure." Lee said.

"Thanks. Knowing Rebecca, she's going to stay persistent in wanting to find Alvin." Carlos said.

Lee nodded and the four continued their meal.

"Well, that was a good meal." Sarah said as she leaned back in her seat.

"Yeah, it was. Thanks for making it." Clementine said. Unlike her friend, Clementine didn't eat as much, but that was nothing new. Lee knew that the girl hadn't been eating as much as she did back at the motor inn. It was primarily because her body hadn't been growing as much.

"Well. We have a little time left in the day. How about we play some euchre?" Carlos suggested.

"I hear that." Lee said. The four went into the living room where Lee lifted Clementine out of her wheelchair and placed her on the couch. Carlos dealt out the first hand and they spent the remainder of the evening playing several hands.

Eventually, both girls were seen yawning at the end of the hand which made Lee and Carlos stop the game. The two men were both tired as well.

"Let's go to bed, Sarah." Carlos said as he stood up. "I don't know about you, but I am very tired."

"I am too." Sarah said. She looked over to Clementine and said, "Night Clem."

"Night, Sarah." Clementine said. Carlos and Sarah walked up stairs as Lee and Clementine looked to each other.

"Let's get you to bed too, sweet pea. I can tell that you are tired." Lee said as he got off of the couch. "You can finish that book you were reading earlier."

"Okay." Clementine said with a smile.

Lee smiled to her before he bent down and picked her up. "Did you have fun today, sweet pea?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, I did." Clementine said as Lee maneuvered around the furniture in the living room to get to the stairs. "Sarah and I had a lot of fun today."

"I bet." Lee said before he started walking up the stairs. "How do you like it here?"

"I think this is really awesome." Clementine said. "I may not be able to move, but I think these last couple of weeks have been the best weeks since the walkers."

"Really?" Lee asked.

"Well yeah. You spend a lot of time with me, I get to play with Sarah, and you always put me to bed. I like it. I sometimes felt lonely at the motor inn, especially when you would go out to hunt and do stuff." Clementine said.

"I'm sorry, honey. I wanted to spend time with you, but everything was just overwhelming." Lee said as he climbed the stairs.

"I know. I was out there too at some point. I know how hard it is." Clementine said. "It's just not that easy."

"I bet it's not easy for what you're going through." Lee said as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Hmm… there's bad days, but it's mostly good. I don't feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders anymore." Clementine said. "When I was walking, I had to do all kinds of stuff and it really stressed me out, but now, I don't have all that stress. I feel more relaxed."

"That's good to hear." Lee said. He walked through the door and placed the eleven year old on the bed. He pulled the cover over her as she smiled at Lee. "What is it sweet pea?"

"I just… want to say thank you. I never really did thank you for everything you do for me." Clementine said.

Lee smiled and lowered himself to her eye level. "Sweet pea, that's what a dad does. He takes care of his children."

"I know, but I kind of felt bad for the past couple of days. You have to do so much for me now." Clementine said as a small frown formed on her lips.

"And I've enjoyed every minute of it. You're my world, Clem. If I didn't have you, I don't even want to think on where I would be right now." Lee said.

Clementine's smile returned and she said, "I love you."

"I love you, too, sweet pea." Lee said. He gave her a quick kiss on her head before he walked over to the door. "Good night, honey." He hit the light switch and headed out of her room.

"Good night." Clementine said. Lee left the door cracked open and went for the stairs. The day had been long but also good. He was worried about the four missing cabin survivors. Hopefully, they would come in later on that night.

Lee laid down on the couch that had become his bed for the last couple of days and allowed his troubled mind to find sleep.

 **Morning**

Lee could hear some giggling which was followed by a flash. "Argh…" Lee mumbled as he woke up by the surprised flash. He looked over to see Sarah with a Polaroid camera. She pulled out the developed photo from it while Clementine watched on from her wheelchair. Lee shook his head to focus and asked, "Where'd you find that dinosaur at?" Lee asked.

"Found it a long time ago under the house." Sarah said. She looked at the photo and giggled. "No offense, but you look grumpy in this photo."

"Yeah, well maybe that's because I was woken up by two little girls." Lee joked. He checked his wrist watch and was surprised to see that it read ten in the morning. "Holy shit. I've been out for that long."

"Swear." Clementine said.

"Huh?" Lee asked.

"You swore daddy." Clementine said. Lee was surprised. She hadn't called him out on his swearing since she turned nine.

"Oh sorry honey. I'm just a little shocked." Lee said. "So wait a second. How did you…?"

"My dad helped her. He and Rebecca left around an hour ago." Sarah explained.

"The others still haven't come back?" Lee asked.

"No, I'm afraid not." Sarah said with a frown.

Lee hummed and contemplated on the next set of actions until he heard knocking on the door. "Hello?" A mysterious voice called out from behind the door.

Sarah gasped upon hearing the voice and said, "I know that voice. I know who's behind that door."

"Who is it?" Lee asked.

"Carver." Sarah replied. Lee huffed. He couldn't believe his luck. Just when the occupants inside the house had left, their sworn enemy arrived. Lee had heard about how awful Carver was from Luke and Carlos. From what he heard, Carver was a monster.

"Hello?" Carver asked from the other side of the door. Lee immediately got up and walked towards the door. He turned the lock for the door and started to walk away. "Alright, I'm coming in." Carver said.

Lee walked over to the two girls and immediately picked up Clementine. "Go hide, Sarah." Lee whispered to the girl. Sarah nodded and headed upstairs with Lee following her.

"F****** son of a bitch!" Carver bellowed. "You f****** will regret locking this door!" There were several loud bangs on the door while Sarah ran to her room to hide. Lee, however, went for Clementine's room. He quickly went for the wardrobe in the room and placed her and himself inside. He had Clementine on his lap to help her to be more comfortable. He closed the door to the wardrobe and just in time. There was a loud crash from downstairs which was followed by Carver's voice. "Search this place. Kill anyone you see. We're going to make them an example to the rest of those f****."

"You got it, Bill." A man said. He sounded somewhat normal as opposed to Carver. He must have been like Luke and the others and was just following orders. Lee could hear the footsteps from downstairs and a set of footsteps coming upstairs. He placed his hand on Clementine's mouth to prevent any noises. He was nervous. He knew that if he was discovered that he and his daughter would get shot to pieces.

"Hey, I saw a wheelchair downstairs. I guess that little bitch, Sarah, managed to become more useless." Lee heard another man say. He sounded almost similar to Carver. He seemed just as psychotic.

"Troy, please. Sarah's had a rough time." A woman's voice could be heard. The footsteps were getting closer to him and Clementine. His heart was pounding in his chest. "The girl lost her mother from all of this. No need to be so mean."

Lee tried to maintain his breathing as the two guards' footsteps could be heard inside the room that he and Clementine were hiding in. Finally, Lee could hear relief from downstairs. "Bonnie, Troy, we got what we need! Let's go!"

"Damn." Troy muttered. "I was hoping to kill someone, too." Lee could hear the man's footsteps which were followed by another pair of footsteps.

Lee huffed and waited for several minutes. He pulled away his hand from his daughter's mouth and opened the wardrobe door. He picked her up and got out of the closet, but he placed her back inside. "Stay here." Lee whispered. "I'm going to go check out the place and make sure they left."

"Okay." Clementine said.

Lee closed the door to the wardrobe and headed out of the room. He looked downstairs to see the game of chess scattered across the floor and Clementine's wheelchair laying on its side. Lee huffed but he headed downstairs anyway. He looked to the front door to see that it had been kicked into. It was stunning how much damage one man could do. Lee looked around the house in search of Carver or his guards, but it appeared that they were long gone. Lee went upstairs and got to Clementine first, since she wasn't able to move her lower body

Lee opened the wardrobe to see Clementine looking to him with shock in her eyes at first, but upon realizing it was him, she calmed down. "It's okay, honey. I'm here." Lee said as he picked her up. He turned around to see Sarah at the doorway.

"Where is he?" Sarah asked.

"He's gone… hopefully." Lee said.

"What if he comes back?" Sarah asked.

Lee pondered for a moment and said, "You're right. I'm going to pack up our stuff. Hopefully, everyone will come back before… they come back." Lee rushed out of the room and headed downstairs. He placed Clementine on the couch while Sarah took a seat next to her.

"I'll be right back." Lee said as he ran up the stairs to gather some of Clementine's possessions and belongings. He grabbed several books for her and Sarah to read along with a blanket and pillow. He returned downstairs and said, "Okay, Sarah, honey, go pack up." Sarah nodded before she got up and headed up the stairs.

Lee got Clementine's wheelchair back up and placed the blanket in the back pocket of the device. "Daddy?" Clementine said.

"Yes honey?" Lee asked as he placed her backpack on the handles of the wheelchair.

"Will I die by going out there?" Clementine asked.

Lee immediately stopped and looked to her. "I will do everything in my power to keep you alive." Lee said. "I will keep you safe." He gripped the girl's hands as she looked back up.

"Thank you." Clementine said with a smile.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: I'm thankful that you guys didn't get on my case from the last chapter. I was actually expecting some heat. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews. I'm surprised how many there were.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee waited patiently for the group's return, but he was getting more anxious by the minute. Meanwhile, Clementine and Sarah were playing another game of chess. Clementine tried to help Sarah pick up all of the chess pieces but the girl was limited in her movements and it resulted in Sarah having to pick up most of the chess pieces. "Checkmate." Clementine said as she moved one of the pieces forward.

"Ah… I was hoping you didn't notice that." Sarah said. "Good game, Clem."

"Thanks. I'm getting pretty good at this." Clementine said.

"Yeah, you are. You were pretty rough a couple weeks ago, but now, I think dad would have a hard time beating you, and he's like a pro at this." Sarah said.

Lee couldn't take any more of the suspense. It was crushing him. That man, Carver, seemed downright brutal and insane. He needed to leave while he still could. "We need to find the others." Lee said as he got up.

"But we can't go outside." Sarah said. Lee entered the kitchen door and was relieved to see Luke opening the door to the kitchen.

"Lee?" Luke said.

Sarah rushed past Lee and toward Carlos as he exclaimed her name. "Sarah!" Carlos then hugged his daughter. He was thankful to see that she was still okay.

"I hope everything was alright on your end. We've… had a couple of long days." Luke said as he rubbed the back of his neck. Lee looked to the group members and noticed that there was one missing. Pete wasn't with them. Plus, Nick seemed very depressed with his head down and a frown forming on his lips.

"What happened?" Lee asked.

"Damn f****** lurkers happened!" Nick spat. "Those f**** killed my uncle."

"I'm sorry. Pete was a good man. He'll be missed." Lee said. He was sad that Pete was gone since Pete was one of the people that he would play poker with late at night during the last couple of weeks. Along with Pete, Lee would usually hang out with Carlos and Alvin. Plus, Pete genuinely cared about Clementine and would be willing to look after her sometimes.

"Whatever." Nick muttered.

"A man was here." Sarah admitted as she escaped her father's grip.

"What?" Carlos exclaimed.

"What did she say?" Rebecca asked.

"Someone came to the cabin…" Sarah said.

"…And you just opened the door for him?" Rebecca inquired as she scowled at Lee.

"Rebecca calm down." Luke said.

"Calm down? I am calm! You calm down!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"Hardly, the guy busted the front door down and rampaged throughout the house." Lee said as he kept a calm tone in his voice.

"Yeah, daddy locked the door, but he barged in anyway." Clementine said.

"We all hid from him." Sarah said.

"Did he say what his name was?" Carlos asked. "Did he say what his name was?"

"Maybe it wasn't him." Rebecca said.

"You know damn well who it was." Alvin said.

"He had some guards with him. Someone called him Bill. One of the guards was named Troy, while another was Bonnie." Lee explained.

The group in front of Lee stared at him with horror in their eyes. "It was him. It had to be." Carlos said.

"Alright, what do you think?" Luke asked as he turned to Lee. "Did it look like he was coming back?"

"You want my honest answer. Definitely." Lee said. "He made a huge ruckus to get in here and he was dead set on finding someone. He seems pretty convinced that you guys are here."

"He was scouting…" Carlos concluded. "We got lucky." Carlos turned to Lee and said, "Good work. You kept him off our trail temporarily. If you hadn't been here… well he was too smart to stick around, but he'll be back."

"He's right." Luke said. "Everyone pack up. We're moving out."

Alvin stormed past Luke and headed for his and Rebecca's room. "Alvin wait!" Rebecca exclaimed as she ran after him.

Carlos focused his attention to Sarah and said, "We have to leave now sweetie before he shows up with more bad guys. But it's going to be okay."

"What does he want?" Clementine asked.

"To take us back." Carlos stated. He looked to Lee and said, "Listen Lee, I'm sorry to involve you and your daughter into all of this, but you should come with us. You both will have a better chance of survival if you come with us."

"I ain't planin on going out there alone. I'm with you." Lee said. "It's the best chance my girl's got to survive."

"Good." Carlos said. "I need to go pack up. We're leaving as soon as possible." Lee watched Carlos leave the room to where it was just him, Sarah, Clementine, Luke, and Nick.

Luke sighed and said, "Just when the thought of a peaceful night indoors…"

Lee chuckled and said, "It's overrated."

"For some of us, yeah it is." Luke said as he chuckled. Lee smirked in response.

 **30 Minutes Later**

The group continued in their walk up towards the mountains, or in Clementine's case, she rolled the wheels to her wheelchair. "Your arms are going to be sore by the end of the day." Lee said.

"You'll help me if the terrain is too rough, right?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah, of course." Lee said.

"Hey Lee, Clem." Rebecca said as she approached the father and daughter who were walking side by side. "Sorry if I gave you both some shit back there. I'm just a little stressed over the baby."

"Hmm… is that what you called that." Lee muttered.

"Hey, this hasn't been easy for me." Rebecca complained.

"That doesn't matter! I don't give a shit how hard it's been for you! You threatened to kill my girl on a daily basis, and now all of a sudden, you feel sorry?" Lee exclaimed with anger lacing his voice. "The way I see it, you can just go f*** off."

"Fine, I get it." Rebecca muttered. The sound of her footsteps started to fade until Lee couldn't hear them anymore.

"Daddy…" Clementine said.

"I don't want to hear it, Clem." Lee said. He wasn't about to accept an apology from some woman who constantly threatened his daughter's life. Clementine may not like that he didn't accept her apology, but she would have to deal with it.

Luke joined alongside Lee and said, "Look, I know she gave you and Clem a rough time back at the cabin, but you really should have accepted her apology. I mean you saw what Carver is capable of. There's a reason why we're all tense."

"I don't give a shit that she got on my case. The problem came in when she targeted my little girl." Lee said.

Luke huffed and said, "You know what? You're right. She had no right in doing that, but holding a grudge against her might not be the best answer. She might help you out in the future."

Lee looked to him with a questionable stare and said, "We'll see."

"Well, alright. I figure we got about four to five days till we reach those mountains. If they're tracking us, we should be able to lose them up there." Luke said.

"Five days?" Rebecca exclaimed with concern and worry in her voice.

"It's going to be okay, Bec." Alvin said to comfort his wife.

"We have to keep moving. It's our only choice." Carlos said. With that, the group continued through the forest in a desperate attempt to lose their pursuers.

 **5 Days Later**

The group was exhausted after the long trek to get to the mountains. Lee was pushing Clementine's wheelchair forward with the girl on it. She was doing okay for three days straight, but now that almost everything was either uphill or downhill, Lee felt safer in just pushing her. Everyone in the group was exhausted, even Clementine. She had gotten used to the life of a homebody, and now being on the road again, she felt drained.

They approached a ledge where some of the older group members like Lee and Carlos could rest. "Nick, go see what we got up ahead." Luke said.

"What? Why me?" Nick asked.

"Because I got to look at the map." Luke said. "Besides, everyone else is exhausted. You're young enough. Get up there."

Lee sat down next to Clementine and huffed. "Man… I must be getting old." Lee said.

"You're not old." Clementine said to encourage her adoptive father.

Lee smirked and said, "Thanks sweet pea."

"I wish I could help you." Clementine said with a frown forming on her lips.

Lee shook his head and said, "The terrain's too rough. I'd rather you just sit back, relax, and read your book."

"It's a pretty good book." Clementine said.

"Any Civil War history in it?" Lee asked.

"No, not quite… it's a fictional adventure/romance novel." Clementine said with a smile forming on her lips. She knew her adoptive father's liking towards Civil War history.

"Okay, I can see the bridge… looks somewhat passable." Nick announced from on top of a rock.

"Good. Thanks Nick." Luke said to his friend. He turned to the tired group as each member got up from their seated spot. Meanwhile, Nick was busy descending down the large rock.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Carlos asked. "Let's move."

"Now, hold on. We can't just go across that bridge all at the same time." Luke said.

"What did you have in mind?" Carlos asked.

"Lee and I can scoot across that bridge low and slow and make sure it's safe to cross." Luke said.

Lee nodded and looked to Carlos. "Won't mind in looking after Clem?" Lee asked.

"Of course not." Carlos replied. "I'll scoot her across when we know it's safe."

Lee nodded and turned to Luke. "Alright, let's go."

"Be careful, daddy." Clementine said. She looked to him with worried eyes as he looked back to her with an assuring smile.

"I will, sweet pea." Lee said.

"If something happens, I'll cover you." Nick said.

However, Luke seemed uninterested in his friend's assistance. "Come on." Luke said. He and Lee left the group much to Lee's hesitation. He felt nervous leaving Clementine all by herself, but he took heart in the fact that Carlos would be looking after her. The two men continued to walk down the path towards the bridge in silence until Luke said, "Thanks for coming with me. I know it can't be easy to leave your girl with people you didn't know about until recently."

"Well at least I know you guys now." Lee said.

"Anyway, I could really use your eyes right now. Frankly, I don't trust Nick to tie his own shoe laces." Luke said.

"It's been five days. They still haven't relaxed yet?" Lee asked.

"I'm afraid not." Luke said. "I mean form what you told me, it sounds like Carver is getting worse."

"Why is he after you and your group anyway?" Lee asked.

"He has a hard time letting go." Luke said. "He wants all of us to come back, especially Rebecca. For some unearthly reason, he thinks that unborn child in her is his."

"So that's why he's after you. He wants Rebecca." Lee said.

"Yeah, for the most part that's why he's after us." Luke said.

The two men approached the entrance of the bridge and were surprised to see two walkers. Luke stood by contemplating his options and said, "Hmm… can't shoot them. Too much noise. But they're only two."

"Let's take them." Lee said.

"I like your style." Luke said. He approached a nearby boulder and crouched down with Lee accompanying him. "I'll take the big one. And one can take shorty."

"If that's what you want to do." Lee said. This worked out for Lee since he wanted to save some of his energy. He readied his axe as Luke drew his machete. Lee approached the short walker and quickly struck it across the skull.

He then heard a cracking slimy sound which came a few feet from him. "Whoa!" Luke exclaimed. The sickening sound was the familiar chopping of a walker's skull.

Lee looked back to see if the younger man was alright. He breathed a sigh of relief to see that the younger man staring at him. "You alright?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, come on. Yank that thing out so we can keep going." Luke said as he made a gesture to Lee's axe. Lee nodded before he pulled the walker's corpse to the ground. He grunted as he tried to yank out the axe, but he could tell that it was slowly coming out. Finally, Lee ripped the axe out of the walker's skull and looked to Luke. "Let's keep moving." Luke said and he led the way across the bridge.

The two men walked across the bridge as they noticed a couple of walkers that were heading from them. Lee raised his axe to strike as he heard Luke mutter, "Shit."

Lee turned around and noticed a walker limping towards them. Luke approached the walker as Lee turned back to attack the incoming walker in front of him. Suddenly, there was a loud crash followed by Luke yelling. He turned around and saw a hole where Luke used to be and exclaimed, "Luke, are you okay?" He ran to the hole and saw the young man trying to keep his balance on a couple of rails on the bridge. The walker that Luke went to deal with was impaled and was trying to attack him.

Luke was slipping on the railing and said, "Yeah, I'm fine… I'm just stuck at the moment… We-We'll figure something out."

Lee heard a growl next to him and looked up to see a walker approaching him. "Be right back." Lee said. He got up and came down with his axe. He pulled it out quickly killed the other walker. He huffed as he looked around for any other walkers. Upon seeing none, he ran over and grabbed a rebar and went back to Luke. Luke was still struggling to maintain his balance while also trying to stay away from the impaled walker's grasp. Lee got down and hit the walker with the rebar which killed it. Lee then handed the rebar to Luke and watched him use it to get back on top of the bridge.

Luke huffed as the excitement and the horror of the situation sunk in. He then turned to Lee and said, "Thanks Lee."

"No problem." Lee said.

Luke looked towards the end of the bridge and said, "Let's keep going."

"Yeah, I hear that." Lee said.

They continued to cross the bridge until both men stopped upon seeing a figure approach them. He seemed to be carrying a hunting rifle "You see him?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I see him. How do you want to play this?" Lee asked as they mysterious man got closer.

"Well, the smarter man usually avoid confrontation better than the reckless youth. See if you can talk to him." Luke said.

"Very well." Lee said a walked forward.

The man was finally in ear-shot from the two. "Well who are you?" The man inquired as Luke kept his hand above his handgun.

"Well, who's asking?" Luke inquired.

"I am." The man replied.

"I'm Lee and this is Luke. We-We got a couple of families with us." Lee said.

The man came closer and asked, "You say you have families, but I don't see anyone but you two."

"We had them stay back until Luke and I could get across the bridge." Lee said.

There was a brief pause among the three. The mysterious man must have been eyeing up Lee and Luke. "You don't look like assholes. Are you assholes? No offense or anything… it's just… you know how it is?" The mysterious man asked.

"Luke's an asshole, but I guess he grows on you." Lee said with a satisfied smirk forming on his lips.

"Hey!" Luke said in whining tone.

The man laughed at the joke and approached them with a friendlier demeanor, "You two and your families heading up north like everyone else?"

"Everyone else?" Luke asked.

"Yeah there's at least one group a day that passes through here to go up north." The man replied. "It's like the great migration of the dazed and the confused."

"Have you seen anyone named Carver come through here?" Lee asked.

"Like George Washington Carver? The peanut guy?" The mysterious man asked.

"What? No, he's a person a little on the psychotic and destructive side." Lee said.

"Oh, okay… well I haven't seen anyone like that in a while, but now, I'm hungry for peanut butter." The mysterious man said with a smirk. "I have to say, you two look like shit. If you're hungry, I got some canned food in that station back there." The man said as he gestured to the small building that was on the other side of the bridge.

"Well, that's uh… awful nice of you. What's the catch?" Luke asked.

"No catch. I got plenty." The man replied.

"Well alright then, thank you." Luke replied.

"Hey, no problem. It's nice to run into friendly faces out here." The man said. "Like I said I got food and supplies back in the station and if you want…" The man trailed off as he squinted his eyes towards the other end of the bridge. His eyes widened and he asked, "What the f***, man?"

Luke and Lee turned around and saw Nick running towards them with his hunting rifle in hand. "What the hell is he doing?" Luke asked. Nick aimed his rifle towards the unknown man, and in turn, the unknown man raised his rifle. "No, no, no, no! He's wi- He's with us!" Luke turned back to Nick and waved his arms in the air. "Nick, no!"

"Put it down!" The man exclaimed.

"Nick don't!" Lee shouted.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and the both men groaned and gripped their ears from the gunshot coming so close to them. They also hear a gurgling sound. Lee turned around and saw that the man was shot in the throat. He clutched his throat as blood spewed out, but before either man could help him, the mysterious man tripped over the bridge into the water below.

Lee and Luke turned to Nick with glares and they approached Nick. "Did I hit him? Where is he?" Nick asked.

"I told you not to shoot." Luke said to Nick.

"What? Who was that guy?" Nick asked.

"He was going to help us." Lee said with an angry tone in his voice. "Nice job, Nick."

"Hey, how I supposed to know?" Nick asked.

"Dammit, Nick! I was telling you not to shoot!" Luke snapped.

"You gave me a clear shot. I was only trying to help you." Nick said

"That shot rang out for miles!" Luke said. He waved his hand in a gesture for the rest of the group to continue on. "We need to get off this bridge. Let's go."

Lee moved toward the approaching group as Luke and Nick walked in the opposite direction to get off the bridge. Carlos was pushing Clementine's wheelchair forward as she looked to Lee with a questionable stare. "What happened? Is everything okay?" Clementine asked as Lee took Carlos's place in pushing the wheelchair.

Lee pondered on his best course of action, but he knew that telling her the truth would be for the best. She was going to find out anyway. "Nick shot someone."

"What?" Rebecca exclaimed.

"Do you think that he was working for Carver?" Carlos asked.

"I don't know… I don't think." Lee said. "We'll talk more when we get off this bridge." He continued to push Clementine forward as the group walked alongside him.

They finally reached the other side of the bridge with Nick and Luke glaring at each other. Rebecca physically struggled to reach a nearby log and asked, "Who the f***… was that back there?"

"I don't know." Luke said.

"It looked like he had a gun on you." Alvin said.

"That asshole drew on me!" Nick exclaimed. "He was about to shoot!"

"Oh was he?" Luke inquired.

"I'm telling you man, he drew first!" Nick exclaimed.

"Because that's not what it looked like to me." Luke said.

"You drew on that man first. Luke and I both saw that." Lee said. Nick's glare turned to Lee, but the older man was unaffected by it.

"Everyone calm down." Clementine said in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

Alvin looked to Lee and asked, "Lee, what did you see? Was that man going to shoot?"

"F*** you Luke! You have been on my ass all week!" Nick complained.

"And why do you think that is, Nick?" Luke inquired.

"He was going to help us, but then smart ass shot him." Lee said.

"I know what I saw!" Nick exclaimed.

"Either way, you could have hit one of us!" Luke said. "I mean seriously, what is wrong with you? First you shoot Clem and paralyze her, and now, you've shot and killed a man!"

"F*** you!" Nick exclaimed. "When are you going to let that go? All of you are always giving me shit over what happened to her!"

"Nick, look at her! She can't walk anymore because of you! Do you have any idea how devastating that can be for a child?" Luke exclaimed.

"But I'm-" Clementine said to stop the two from fighting. However, Lee covered her mouth to keep her from talking.

"Hush honey." Lee whispered.

"It doesn't help that I'm reminded of that every day; Pete would constantly remind me of my f*** up." Nick said. "It's bad enough that I have to see her like this."

"Good because you need to understand the full extent of what you did to her." Luke said.

Nick's glare soon fell and instead he walked away with his head down and a frown forming on his lips. "Fine, I get it." He walked away from the group with Luke giving a remorseful stare. He allowed himself to get too caught up in the argument.

"Do you think he was with Carver?" Carlos asked.

"I don't know. I… No, I don't think so." Luke said. "He fell off the bridge so it doesn't matter."

"He fell off the damn bridge?" Alvin asked.

"We have to keep moving." Carlos said.

"I can't. I need a minute." Rebecca said

"Fine." Carlos said. He looked over to Nick before he turned to Luke. "Luke, I need a word with you, alone." Luke nodded and the two adults walked over to some nearby brush away from the rest of the group.

Lee pushed Clementine forward as she looked over to Nick with a saddened look. She felt bad for him. Lee pushed her next to Sarah before he squatted down and asked, "Do you need anything, sweet pea?"

Clementine looked over to Nick and then back to Lee. "Will Nick be okay?" Clementine asked.

Lee looked over to him and said, "I don't know sweet pea. He's in a real bad place right now."

"Like Kenny?" Clementine asked.

Lee nodded as a frown formed on his features. He remembered how depressed and easily provoked Kenny had gotten after losing his wife and son. He was just like Nick, but somehow, he persevered. Nick, on the other hand, is always a loose cannon. Lee felt nervous having Clementine around him, especially since Nick was the reason why she was in a wheelchair to begin with. "Yeah, like Kenny." Lee said.

Clementine frowned in response until Lee gripped her shoulders to comfort her. "Will you be okay? I'm going to check out that station." Lee said as he gestured to the building next to the group.

"I'll be okay. Do you need any help?" Clementine asked.

"Nah, I'll be okay. You stay close to Sarah." Lee said.

Clementine looked down with a frown and said, "Okay." Lee knew why she was upset. He remembered that she wanted to spend more time with him, but now that they were out in the real world, Clementine had less time to spend with him. Lee sent an apologetic stare towards her before he got up and looked over to Alvin.

"I'm going to check out the station. That man on the bridge said that there was food in there." Lee said.

"Sounds like a plan." Alvin said.

Lee walked toward the station but he stopped in front of Nick. "What do you want?" Nick muttered.

"I just want to talk." Lee said. "You're becoming unhinged."

"F*** you." Nick said.

"Just slow down and think what you're about to do every once in a while." Lee said.

"Yeah, and what if I do slow down and it cost everyone their lives, what then?" Nick inquired as he got up.

"That rarely ever happens." Lee said. "Look, I've been out here for a long time and I've seen many people… people who are pure evil and people who are struggling to keep whatever good they have left in them. I know you're not evil… you just need to slow down and think."

Nick visibly backed down and said, "Yeah… okay fine." He sat back down while Lee headed for the door to the station house.

Inside, there was a cot with some empty cans near it, a radio that sat on an end table, and a trunk at the foot of the bed. Lee went up to the radio and tried to get a signal. "That's what I'd figured." Lee said. He placed the radio back on the end table.

His eyes turned to the trunk and Lee approached the object. "I'm going to guess that guy had the key." He placed his axe between the locking mechanism and the trunk and applied some pressure to it. The metal groaned until there was a satisfying crunch sound that came from the lock being destroyed. Lee opened the trunk to find a collection of books inside along with a couple of large cans of peaches.

Suddenly, he heard the door open and looked over to see Alvin. "Man and I thought we had it bad. Look at this dump."

"I have to say. That cabin was quite unique having its own water supply and electricity." Lee said as he got back up.

"Yeah… you should have seen it when we first arrived. It's a good thing that Pete was around. He was able to route a water supply from the river and found some generators get that place running." Alvin said.

"That's impressive." Lee remarked.

"Yeah, it's a shame that we lost him and Mary. They were a couple of good people." Alvin said.

"Mary?" Lee asked.

"Nick's mother. I'm surprised he hasn't told you yet." Alvin said as a frown formed on his face. "There were eight of us who escaped Howe's, but… after a few months, we took a couple of people in. This one woman was bit… we thought we could control it, but couldn't and Mary was right next to this woman when she turned."

"F***." Lee muttered. His sympathy soon turned to anger and he said, "So that's why he had that damn rifle aimed at my girl. He thought that she was going to turn."

"We were all on edge. We lost Mary only a week before you and Clem showed up. I'm sorry that she had to suffer the consequences of us being so worked up." Alvin said.

Lee huffed as he tried to maintain his anger. "I guess that man did have food after all." Alvin said which caught Lee's attention. Alvin approached the trunk and grabbed one of the cans and continued, "Man, screw Nick. Nick's lost a lot of his people but that doesn't mean he can just go around shooting up strangers."

"He's reckless stupid kid. I knew this was going to happen at some point." Lee said.

"He's too damn reckless. I just don't know… maybe it would be for the best to just leave him. He's just too dangerous especially with Rebecca and the kids around. The last thing that needs to happen is for him to pop a gasket and shoot one of them." Alvin said.

"I think you might be right." Lee said.

"Man, this is f****** crazy. Now we're starting to talk like Carver." Alvin said. He looked down to the can of peaches and smiled. "That's funny. She looks a lot like your girl." Alvin showed the can to Lee who smirked upon seeing the resemblance of the character on the can to his adopted daughter. "Hey, Lee, there's not a lot of food here and Rebecca… well… she's eating for two. Would you mind in keeping it between us? I hate to even say it… and I would never go against the group."

"If it gets her off my back for a little while, then fine, she can have it." Lee said.

"Thanks Lee. Again, I'm sorry for the way she treated you and your girl. I hope you won't always see her like that." Alvin said. Alvin then went to the window and looked out to Nick. "It's a shame. Nick was a good guy; he might still be a good guy, but it's too hard to tell anymore."

Alvin was about to leave when he looked out the window to check on Rebecca but received a shock when he saw several walkers heading towards the group. Lee also saw the herd and muttered, "Shit, I need to get to Clem."

Alvin and Lee rushed for the door and headed outside to see the group gathering up their supplies. "We have a problem here." Alvin said.

"Yeah. We saw it." Luke said as he approached the two men. He turned to the group and said, "Alright, we're moving up."

Lee rushed over to Clementine and said, "The terrain's going to be too rough for that wheelchair. You're going to have to let me carry you."

Clementine nodded and said, "Okay." Lee picked up the girl from her wheelchair as Carlos walked over and closed up the device.

"I'll carry her wheelchair. I'd say you have enough on your plate." Carlos said as he picked up the folded-up device.

"Thanks Carlos." Lee said. The Spanish man nodded and the group ran up the mountain to avoid the walkers.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Weak chapter… but you'll have that every once in a while.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I swear that I didn't copy Magixben… we just happened to have had the same idea.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

The sky grew gray with the oncoming storm and the lateness of the day as the cabin survivors climbed the hill to the top. Rebecca and Lee huffed as they struggled to climb the mountain to its summit. Despite how light Clementine was, it was still exhausting on Lee's part to carry her up the mountain. He looked down to her as she looked up to him with a worried look. "I'm… I'm glad… you don't weigh that much." Lee said as he huffed.

Clementine looked down with a frown and said, "I'm sorry. I wish I could have walked so you wouldn't be so tired."

"Hey, you're safe. That's all that matters to me." Lee said.

Meanwhile, Carlos and Nick looked across the walkway of the ski lodge awaiting any form of trouble whether it would be walkers or human beings. "Well? What are we waiting for?" Rebecca asked as she approached the two men.

"We have to be careful." Carlos said. He had placed Clementine's wheelchair against the wall of the ski lodge.

"Careful? We've been on the road for 5 days." Rebecca responded. "My back is done being careful." Both men moved forward upon seeing no one and everyone else made their way onto the deck

Alvin walked down the walkway examining the windows and said, "It doesn't look like anybody is home." He looked at one of the fortified windows and pulled on it. "No good." Alvin said. "Nailed down tight." Alvin then got up and walked towards the entrance. "I'll check around front."

"I'll go with you." Carlos said as he followed his ally.

The other members of the group stayed behind. Nick was antsy and he looked around with his hunting rifle at the ready as Rebecca and Sarah sat down, exhausted by the day's walk. Luke looked down the mountain side to see if there were any walkers coming towards the group. Meanwhile, Lee placed Clementine on one of the benches and asked, "Are you alright sitting there?" Lee asked.

Clementine cringed and shook her head. "It's kind of uncomfortable. Could you get my wheelchair? I'll feel better being in it."

"Sure thing sweet pea." Lee said. He walked over to fetch the wheelchair until Luke walked over to him. No one else was around the two men.

"I need to talk to you." Luke said.

"Um… okay." Lee said with a perplexed stare aimed at the young man.

Luke looked to Lee with a saddened stare and said, "Listen, I know what I'm about to say may sound hurtful, but you need to hear it. I think… I think we need to give up on Clem." Lee was shocked by what he heard as Luke continued, "Listen, she won't survive out here on her own, and you won't always be there for her. For her sake, you should… put her down… while you still have the chance."

"Now hold up." Lee said with a death glare aimed at Luke.

"No, you need to listen to me." Luke said. "We tried alright? But it's taking too much of our resources to keep her going. We're wasting food and medicine on someone who will never be able to repay us when we're older, and that's if she survives to adulthood."

"Oh yeah, what about Sarah? She hasn't done much for you or your people." Lee said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "The way I see it, she and Clem are in the same camp, but for different reasons."

"That is completely different." Luke said.

"How? Sarah has anxiety problems. You think she's going to be okay around walkers?" Lee said.

"There's a difference." Luke said. "Unlike Clementine, Sarah can run from the lurkers. She's not an easy target."

"And how long do you think she'll last by running away? I'll answer that for you. Not very long." Lee said.

Luke huffed and paced around to keep his anger in check. "Look, Lee…" Luke said as he looked up to the older man. "You can't protect her forever. Carlos has his own daughter to worry about. Rebecca and Alvin will have their baby soon, Nick is too reckless, and I sure as hell don't want her. You might be doing her a favor by offing her now. She won't feel any pain."

Lee gripped Luke's sweatshirt and glared down at him. "The f*** she won't feel any pain. She'll feel the pain of her own father giving up on her."

"Let go of me." Luke said as he seethed.

"Daddy, Luke!" Clementine called for the two men. Lee released his grip on Luke shirt and the two men looked over to see Alvin, Carlos, Rebecca, Sarah, and Nick talking to some new people.

"Ah… f***." Luke muttered. He ran over while Lee went to catch up to him.

"Wait, daddy." Clementine said. Lee looked back to her and saw that her hands were gripping the bench and her eyes were starting to tear up. "Please, I need to get in my wheelchair. My back is starting to really hurt." Clementine had developed some back pain since she had gotten shot. She was perfectly fine if she laid down in a bed or was in a comfortable chair, like the wheelchair she was in, but her back gave her issue immediately if she sat on a hardwood chair or on a solid surface with no support.

"Right, sorry sweet pea." Lee said. He ran over to the device and grabbed it before he ran back over. He unfolded the device and picked up Clementine. He placed her in it and her body started to relax. "Sorry sweat pea. I was talking to Luke." Lee said as he wiped her tears with his thumb.

"It's okay." Clementine said as she started to smile. "That feels a lot better."

Lee looked back over to the feuding group and turned to Clementine. "I'll be right back." Lee said.

"Okay, I'll stay here." Clementine said. "The view is kind of pretty up here."

Lee nodded with and got up. He approached the feuding groups as Luke tried to diffuse the situation. Lee was angry at him. At least now, he knew what Luke was really like. All he cared about was his group and himself, anyone else could go get themselves killed for all he cared.

"Listen, everyone. Just stay calm." Luke said.

"Who are you? Are you trying to rob us?" An Indian-American woman asked.

"Excuse me, honey, but do I look like a freaking thief?" Rebecca snapped. Lee advanced further towards the center of the commotion as the two groups continued in their squabbling.

"Everyone just stay calm." A plump man in a red sweatshirt said.

"Hey man, you calm down." Alvin shot back.

"Sarah get behind me." Carlos exclaimed.

"Just tell us who you are." A familiar voice demanded. Lee perked up upon hearing the voice. He knew who it was, but… it couldn't be… she was dead.

"We're not here to rob anyone. Put the gun down man." Alvin pleaded.

"F*** that." Another familiar voice said. This time it was a man. The same man that Lee thought was gone forever.

"No f****** way." Lee muttered as he pushed through the group that he had recently met.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Luke exclaimed as he raised his arms in surrender.

Lee finally got to the front of the group and had a good look of the man and woman that he recognized. He thought they were both dead, but there they were standing right in front of him. "Please just do as he says." The Indian-American woman begged.

The man that Lee thought was dead was Kenny and the woman was Carely. Kenny looked over to Lee and back to the group for a quick second not noticing who he was, but then, his eyes widened and he looked back to him. He started to lower his hunting rifle and his mouth opened very wide in shock of seeing Lee. He was also becoming rather pale. "Kenny, what's wrong?" Carley asked. She was different. She now had a scar that ran across from her eye and into her hair line. It must have been the bullet that nearly took her life. Her appearance remained the same though. Her eyes also widened upon seeing Lee.

"Kenny. Carley." Lee said as he looked to the two.

"Wait, you know them?" Luke asked.

"Lee…?" Kenny asked.

"Oh my gosh." Carley muttered. She ran up to Lee and hugged him.

"Holy f***!" Kenny exclaimed. "How-How are you-?" He was speechless.

Carley pulled away and said, "Kenny told me everything after Lilly tried to kill me. He said that you were…"

"Lee, is this what I think it means?" Kenny asked.

"What in the f*** are you guys talking about?" Nick exclaimed.

Lee nodded to Kenny before he turned to the rest of the group. "Guys, there's something I didn't tell you. Something very important."

"Great, more secrets." Rebecca hissed.

"Bec, calm down hon." Alvin said. He turned back to Lee and gave him a gesture to continue.

Lee huffed as all eyes turned on him. "I was bit… a little more than a year and a half ago… I never turned." Everyone's eyes widened and soon accusation flew left and right.

"That's bullshit… everyone who gets bitten dies!" Luke exclaimed.

"You could have helped my uncle back at the river, you f****** piece of shit!" Nick bellowed.

"I don't believe you. Show us the proof." Carlos said.

Lee nodded and pulled up his sleeve to reveal the bite. It had faded since he was bitten, but it was still visible. It was a permanent mark of his immunity. Carlos approached Lee and checked the wound. His eyes widened and he turned back to the group. "It's true. That's a human chomp, no doubt. It's healed since he got bit."

"You didn't think that tell us this information would have been important!" Luke exclaimed.

"I forgot! I've been taking of Clementine up to recent if you hadn't noticed!" Lee exclaimed.

Carley gasped upon hearing the girl's name and said, "Clem, where is she?"

"She's over looking at the view." Lee said.

Carley immediately ran off toward the child before Lee could say another word. Lee had forgotten how close Carley and the child had gotten back at the motor inn. He gave a saddened look to Kenny before he went after Carley, but it was too late. Carley was frozen as she looked over to Clementine. Nonetheless, she walked over to the girl and crouched down to her height. Clementine was too entranced by the view to recognize the woman until Carley said, "Hi sweetie. It's been a while since I've seen you."

Clementine turned and a smile formed on her lips. "Carley!" Clementine exclaimed as she hugged the woman. Carley hugged back and the two enjoyed a couple of minutes in each other's embrace.

They separated and Carley said, "You gotten taller since I've seen you."

"I feel about the same height right now, maybe a little shorter." Clementine said.

Carley frowned and asked, "What happened?"

"It… It was an accident." Clementine said.

"The f*** it was?" Kenny bellowed. Clementine was surprised to see him as well, but she was more afraid of him than anything else. "WHO-WHO THE F*** DID THIS TO HER?"

Silence fell among the cabin survivor until Nick spoke up. "It-It was my fault. I… I'm sorry."

Kenny glared at Nick and yelled out a furious growl. He hit the young man in the face with his hunting rifle which sent Nick to the ground. Kenny then started to beat on him.

"No, please, stop! Kenny!" The Indian-American woman exclaimed.

Lee grabbed onto Kenny and pulled him back as he yelled, "Let go of me. I ain't done with that chicken shit yet!"

"Kenny, enough man! This isn't going to help anything!" Lee said. Kenny visibly relaxed upon hearing his best friend's voice and huffed heavily. "Kenny, I know how you feel man. Clementine is the world to me, but beating on that kid isn't going to help her in any way."

"Alright." Kenny muttered. Lee released his friend from his grasp and Kenny slowly got up. He looked over to Clementine and gave her a remorseful stare. He walked over to her and knelt down to her height. "I-I know this might be a stupid question, but are-are you okay, darlin?"

Clementine smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Daddy's been protecting me."

Kenny smirked and looked up to Lee. "Daddy, huh?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah. I adopted her on her tenth birthday." Lee said.

Kenny smiled to Lee and got up. "Well, I'm happy for you, for both of you. Let's talk inside." He turned to Luke and his group and glared at them. "All of you. No weapons."

"The f*** we're going in there with no weapons." Nick said.

"Then you're not coming in at all. Lee and Clem will stay. The rest of you can move on." Kenny said.

"Alright, fine. We will leave our weapons at the door." Luke said, but it was obvious that he was displeased by the situation.

Kenny gestured Lee to follow him and the two men headed for the door while Carley walked next to Clementine as she rolled the wheels of her wheelchair. Luke's group followed behind them with each member being nervous of Kenny and the new group.

The plump man in the red sweatshirt held the door open for the four to enter the ski lodge. It had electricity as shown by the decorations on the Christmas tree and lights on the columns. This surprised Lee and Clementine. It had been a while since either have seen decorations. The plump man joined alongside Kenny and Lee and explained, "Kenny, Carley, and Sarita have been staying with us for several weeks. Used to be a ski lodge obviously, so there is plenty of food." He continued as he approached the stairs, "And believe it or not, we still get power from that wind turbine out front. We tend to keep the lights off at night to avoid drawing attention."

Kenny turned around to Clementine and began mock the man with a nagging hand gesture as the man continued, "But after we found this stuff in storage, we couldn't resist making an exception." Clementine giggled as Carley and Lee rolled their eyes at Kenny's antics. Walter turned around and noticed the child's giggling. "Is something funny?" He asked.

"Oh nothing Walt." Kenny replied and walked up to the man to introduce him to Lee and Clementine. "Walter here is one smart son of a bitch. He also makes a good can of beans." Kenny finished as he patted Walter on the back.

"Well why don't you four catch up while I get dinner started?" Walter suggested. Suddenly the cabin members entered the ski lodge, with the exception of Carlos and Sarah who were talking with the Indian-American woman outside. "Please, make yourselves at home. You can leave your things over there." He gestured to the bench near the door.

"Actually, the way I see it. You guys have no choice." Kenny said.

"Yeah, and what about Lee? He's armed." Nick said.

"I trust Lee. I don't trust you f******." Kenny said.

"Hey we helped Lee when he needed it most. We're good people." Luke said.

"What do you say, Lee? Will you vouch for these people?" Kenny asked. "If you say that they're good, I might consider leaving my rifle at the door."

"I can't speak for everyone." Lee said as he glared at Rebecca, Luke, and Nick.

"What the hell, man?" Nick inquired.

"In that case, I think I'll stay armed. The rest of you don't have a choice. Weapons and equipment on the bench. If you don't like that idea, the door's right behind you." Kenny said.

"This is f****** bullshit." Rebecca said. "We've helped you in looking after that girl of yours, and now, you're going to screw us over!"

"First of all, you didn't do shit. You were constantly threatening to kill my girl on a daily basis. Secondly, it was your fault that she's paralyzed to begin with. And thirdly, you're not walking into a death trap. These are my people and they won't harm you." Lee said. Luke, Nick, and Rebecca glared at the older man as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Guys… if Lee trusts these people, then I'd say we should trust them too." Alvin said. All three looked to him with questioning glances. "He is a part of our group, now." Alvin said.

"Alright. Fine." Luke said as he shook his head in disgust before he walked over and placed his machete and revolver on the bench. The rest of the adults followed as Sarah, Carlos and the Indian-American woman came in. "Dad look a Christmas tree!" Sarah exclaimed.

Carlos stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder and said, "Not now, sweetie."

"Isn't it great? We found it all in storage." The Indian-American woman said.

"It's amazing." Sarah said.

Kenny looked down to the group who shared unsure glances with one another. Kenny nodded and looked to the Indian-American woman. "Sarita, darlin, can you give these folks the tour. I'm going talk to Lee and Clementine."

"I'll be doing the same." Carley said.

"Certainly. Will you all please follow me? I'll show you where you can sleep." From there she gave a tour to Nick, Sarah, Luke, Alvin, Rebecca, and Carlos. Walter went back to the kitchen and tried to get something made for the new additions as Kenny and Carley headed up the stairs. Lee had to walk in reverse to bring the wheelchair up the stairs but once he did, he followed Kenny and Carley to the living room where a nice, warm fire was. Carley sat in a nearby chair as Kenny sat on the sofa. Lee parked Clementine's wheelchair and picked her up. He sat across from Kenny with Clementine on his lap. He had his arm wrapped around her waist as the girl cuddled into him.

"Still wearing this dirty old thing." Kenny said as tapped the brim of Clementine's hat.

"Yup…" Clementine said with a smirk. "You still got yours too."

Kenny chuckled and said, "Yeah, I haven't managed to throw it away yet." He then frowned and said, "I remember how you were just… Clem, how do you feel, really?"

"I'm okay. Really, I am." Clementine said. "After I became paralyzed, I actually had a couple of really nice weeks. I have bad days, but to be honest, I feel so relaxed."

"But darling… you'll never walk again." Kenny said.

"It does not affect me. I'm a homebody and I hate physical activity. I'd rather spend my day drawing and reading in a bed." Clementine said. "I find both to be soothing, especially after everything we went through."

"I won't deny that." Kenny said. "We've been through some tough shit."

"Speaking of which, how are you still alive?" Lee asked as he turned to Carley. "We all thought you were dead."

"Turns out Lilly just grazed me. Can't believe that f****** psycho nearly tried to kill me." Carley said. "Kenny filled me in on most of the details. So how'd you end up with that group?"

"Well Clem and I got separated when she was still able to walk. I spent a couple days searching for her until I finally found her. She was on the ground in front of them." Lee explained.

"I tried to run from them since they were talking about killing me and then I saw daddy. After that, I felt this sharp pain in my back and I think I blacked out after that." Clementine explained.

"That stupid f*** shot her, didn't he?" Kenny barked.

"It was just an accident." Clementine said.

"Clem, that boy knew exactly what he was doing. Everyone who handles a gun should know that if you point a gun at someone, then you want that person dead." Kenny argued.

"Look Ken, I hate it too, but what's done is done. Clementine doesn't really mind too much so I guess we shouldn't get ourselves worked up over it." Lee said.

Kenny grumbled under his breath and said, "Fine."

"So you're both okay?" Lee said.

"Yeah, after I went to help that shitbird Ben, I got caught up into a damn cluster…" Kenny said. "I don't know how, but I managed to get out of that unscathed."

"I see that. You're tough as nails." Lee said. He was impressed by his friend's strength and will to live.

"Yeah, but after that… I..." Kenny said. He looked off toward the fire with a distant stare. He was haunted by the memories of his life. "I spent a lot of time on my own after that. And then I met Sarita, thank goodness. Gosh, it's great to have you both back!" Kenny exclaimed.

The said woman approached the four and asked, "You guys catching up?"

"Clem, Lee, this is my girl, Sarita. Ain't she beautiful?" Kenny asked.

Sarita rolled her eyes at the antics of her boyfriend and said, "It's nice to meet you both." Sarita turned her attention to Lee and said, "You got a very pretty girl."

Lee chuckled and said, "Thanks."

"Yeah thank you." Clementine said. "You look pretty too."

"Thank you, Clementine. It's nice to hear that every once in a while." Sarita said as she stared at her boyfriend with a mocking stare. Kenny chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Walter walked back into the living room and Carley immediately noticed him. "Hey Walt, where's Matthew? He still out there?" Carley asked.

"Of course he is." Walter replied. "Well I'll start dinner." Walter said as he continued his walk to the makeshift kitchen.

The cabin group descended the stairs and Sarita approached them. "Carlos, right? Won't mind if I steal your daughter for a secret mission?" Sarita asked.

Sarah perked up and looked to Carlos. "Stay inside, Sweetie." Carlos replied. The two walked over to the Christmas tree and started to decorate it.

"So, what exactly can we do?" Luke asked. He was still angry about having to leave his weapons at the door.

"Well, there's still a few supplies outside. We need to bring them in before the storm hits. Lee can help us" Kenny said.

"Great…" Luke muttered. He didn't want to be working with Lee especially after the older man was responsible in forcing his group to leave their weapons

Lee got up with his paraplegic daughter and placed her in her wheelchair. "Can you watch her Car?" Lee asked the markswoman.

A smile formed on Carley's face and she said, "I would love to watch her again. It'll be like old times, huh Clem?"

"Yeah except I won't be able to get away from you as easily." Clementine said with a smirk.

"Good, it'll be better than old times." Carley said as she got up. She and Clementine headed over to the Christmas tree and started to decorate it with Sarah and Sarita.

Lee smiled to see the two. He remembered the bond between Clementine and Carley. The woman would look after Clementine like she was her daughter. He was thankful that the old bond had not yet been broken between the two.

"Come on, Lee. We'll head on outside and start getting everything inside. There isn't much." Kenny said. Lee nodded and headed for the stairs where Luke and Nick were waiting for him. Kenny and Nick headed outside, but Lee stopped Luke in his tracks.

"What do you want, Lee?" Luke asked with a glare aimed at the older man.

"I want to know why you want to give up on my girl." Lee said. "What changed in you? You had hope for my girl when she was first paralyzed."

"That wasn't hope… that was denial, but I'm over it now. You should also be over it." Luke said.

"Look, she won't ever be able to take on the walkers again, but we shouldn't be so willing to give up on her." Lee said.

"I'm just trying to protect my own people. I don't them dyin over her." Luke said.

"You won't have to worry about that. Carley and I will be taking care of her." Lee said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Luke got closer to Lee and said, "If anyone in my group dies because of her, I'll kill her myself. I mean it."

"If I were you, I wouldn't make threats like that." Lee said.

"That's not a threat, that's a promise." Luke said. He stomped out the door as Kenny came in.

"What was that all about?" Kenny asked.

"It's nothing." Lee muttered. He headed for the door until Kenny grabbed a hold of Lee's arm.

"Hey come on pal. Don't hide stuff from me." Kenny said.

Lee huffed and said, "Luke wants my girl dead. He said, if anyone in his group dies because of her that he'll kill her."

Kenny's face warped to anger. "The f***. Alright, that's it… they leave."

"Not all of them are like that." Lee said. "Carlos and his daughter have been there for me since the very beginning. Without Carlos, I doubt Clem would still be alive."

Kenny huffed out an angry sigh and said, "Alright. But I'm keeping an eye on them."

"Trust me… I'm doing the same." Lee said.

Lee went outside along with Kenny to bring in the rest of the supplies inside. Eventually, they succeeded in doing so. It had been a while, and when they entered in with the last of the supplies, the smell of the food taunted them with its sweet aroma.

"That smells good." Lee said.

"Walter's a pretty good cook. He's got his way with spices. I think it's almost done." Kenny said.

"I better go get Clem." Lee said. He walked up the stairs and looked over to see her decorating the tree with Sarita, Sarah, and Carley.

"Well you four have been busy." Lee said as he approached the tree.

"Hi daddy, do you like it?" Clementine asked as she turned her wheelchair around from the tree and towards her adoptive father.

"Yes, I do. You did a good job on it." Lee said as he crouched down to her eye level.

"Thanks." Clementine said. "I miss decorating the tree. I used to help my parents decorate the tree when I was little."

"Yeah, I remember doing it with my folks. It felt like so long ago." Lee said. "I remember being young and my dad would hoist me up on his shoulders so I could put the angel on top of the tree."

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Clementine said.

"Yeah, it was." Lee said.

"Well everyone dinner is served. Come on, let's eat." Walter announced from the tables. Lee got up as Carley, Sarita, and Sarah went for the tables along with everyone else. He watched the two groups with Luke, Nick, Alvin, Rebecca, Sarah, and Carlos sitting at one table while Kenny, Sarita, Carley, and Walter sat at the other.

It didn't take much decision making for Lee to make a choice. He looked to Clementine and said, "Let's go join Kenny and his group."

"Okay." Clementine said as she started to move toward the table. Lee kept his pace at the same speed as the girl until they finally reached the table.

"I figured you guys would come over and join us." Kenny said as Walter handed Lee and Clementine a bowl.

Lee nodded in response and started to eat what appeared to be a mix of peaches and beans. He took a bite and was surprised by how delicious it was. "This is pretty good." Lee said.

"Yeah, best thing I've eaten in a long time." Clementine said. "What is it?"

"Le Walter Surprise." Walter said. "An autumnal legume salad with a peach roux."

"Umm…" Clementine said as she looked to her adoptive father with a confused stare.

"Peaches and bean." Lee said to quell the girl's confusion.

"Precisely. It's all we got." Walter said.

"So Lee, I was talking with that one guy, Big Al. He says that y'all are on the run." Kenny said.

"Yeah, we're being chased by this psycho. You wouldn't believe how crazy he is." Lee said.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that no more." Kenny said. "They'll go tomorrow and you can stay here."

"Yeah, I agree. I don't exactly feel comfortable with them since they were the people who got Clem paralyzed." Carley said.

Clementine looked to Lee with a begging look to convince Carley and Kenny to change their minds. She and Sarah were good friends and Carlos was like a second father to her.

Lee huffed and said, "I wish it was that simple. That psycho went through the house that we were staying at. I was hiding with Clementine when they were looking for us. They know about the wheelchair. I'd imagine if that Carver guy comes here and sees Clementine, he's going to put two and two together."

"F***." Kenny muttered. "I guess we can't hide Clem when that asshole shows up."

"What'll be the point? What will stop him from forcing us to go to his community anyway?" Lee asked.

"You got a point." Carley said.

Kenny nodded and said, "So we fight this asshole."

"Something's telling me that he doesn't die easily." Lee said.

"Yeah, well the way I see it, we don't die easily either." Kenny said. "Walkers tried to kill me and you and we made it. Carley got shot by some psycho bitch and she survived. I say that this asshole can bring it on because we're going to be the ones who make it out alive while the walkers are chewing on his corpse."

"I hope you're right, Ken." Lee said with a smirk. He knew his friend was right. They had all survived the worst possible circumstances. One more psycho wouldn't be that hard to take down, right?

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Whew, finally, this chapter took a while to complete.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys, there's been some concern over my censoring of the f-bomb. If you are new to my stories, I'm sorry, but I do censor the f-bomb no matter what. It's not just this story. I do it in all of my stories. Sorry for the inconvenience but this is just one of the things I do. Just imagine that there is a bleep where the f-bomb is used.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Upon finishing his meal, Lee got up and walked over by the fire to relax. He was soon joined by Carley who aimed a smirk at him. Lee smiled back as the woman sat down next to him. "It's good to see you again." Carley said. "I never thought I'd see you, Kenny, Clem or anyone else again."

"Yeah… I thought for sure you were dead." Lee said.

"Yeah, I was found by this guy. I think his name was Justin. Well, he brought me to his camp. So happened that they had a doctor there." Carley said. "I got my head stitched up and we tried to make it."

"What happened?" Lee asked.

"What always happens." Carley said as she stared into the fire with a solemn stare. "One-by-one, we all started to die by bandits, walkers, or psychopaths until I was the only one left. I headed up north hoping to leave all of my memories behind… and that's when I found Kenny and Sarita."

"I bet that couldn't have been easy on you, Car." Lee said.

"Well, it's better now that you and Clem are here." Carley said. She huffed and asked, "How… is she doing with... well…?"

"Being paraplegic?" Lee said. Carley nodded. "Well, I won't lie to you. She does have bad days, but she mostly has good days."

"I guess if anyone can adapt to being in a wheelchair, it's her. I mean she wasn't as active as Duck." Carley said.

Lee chuckled and said, "Yeah… she doesn't really mind it too much."

There was a long pause between the two as the fire sizzled and crackled. Carley huffed and said, "Lee, I want to be there for you and Clem… I really missed you both, and now with Clem needing more help, I want to be there to help you… both of you."

Lee smiled and said, "That's good. I feel like I'm about to collapse from having to look after her out there. It was easier when we were at that cabin. And besides that, I missed you."

"Good." Carley said. The two adults leaned in for an intimate kiss. It was just like Lee remembered. He remembered how fiery and lively the woman's kissing was. They had made out before at the motor inn, but this was something different. They separated and Carley looked to Lee with an affectionate smile but it turned into a look of surprise. "Clem?"

Lee turned around and saw the paraplegic girl staring at the two adult with a smirk. "Um… how long were you there?" Lee asked.

"Sorry. I came over to sit with you guys and I couldn't help but watch." Clementine said. The two adults looked to the girl with stunned eyes as she asked, "I can't help but ask since I saw you two. Is Carley going to become my mom?"

"Umm… we'll see Clem." Lee said as he got up and picked the girl up from her wheelchair. "We aren't exactly engaged yet." Lee sat back down with the girl on his lap and his arms around her waist. She looked down with a small frown on her face.

"Don't worry honey… we just need time." Carley said to assure the girl. "I'll be helping Lee taking care of you either way."

"That's good." Clementine said with her smile returning.

Kenny walked over and join the three at the couch. "Well I tried to talk to those assholes about them coming with us to Wellington."

"How'd it go?" Lee asked.

Kenny scoffed and said, "About as bad as I expected. Luke and Nick are just stubborn as all hell." Kenny said. He turned his attention to Clementine who seemed to relaxing in Lee's grip. "So, Clem. How are you doing darling."

"I'm okay, but I don't think I can go all the way up to Wellington… not like this." Clementine said.

"Hey, I told you that I'd help you and now Carley's going to help you too." Lee said.

"You two still a couple?" Kenny asked with a smirk.

"Well… we were spending some time talking with one another." Carley said. Her voice was shaky and she sounded nervous.

"You guys weren't talking. You were kissing." Clementine said.

Kenny's smirk grew as the two adults blushed. "Thanks Clem." Carley said.

Kenny chuckled and said, "Well at least some things haven't changed."

"So what exactly is the plan, Ken?" Lee asked.

"Well, we were planning to stay here for a little while longer, then we were thinking of heading up north to Wellington." Kenny said. "You have heard of that place, right?"

"Yeah, Clem, Christa, and I were heading up that way." Lee said.

"What about Omid?" Kenny asked.

Clementine shook her head as a gesture that the man didn't make it. "It was my fault." Clementine said.

"No, it wasn't." Lee said.

"He died because of me. I was careless and he died because of that." Clementine said.

"Honey, Omid died because of some girl who was holding you at gunpoint." Lee said. "It's more of my fault. I was standing guard when it happened. That girl must have slipped through when I went to kill a walker."

"But it was my gun that she grabbed." Clementine said.

Carley gripped the young girl's hand in an attempt to comfort her. Clementine looked to Carley as the woman said, "Clem honey, it wasn't your fault. It was just a bad thing that happened. And if it is anyone's fault, it's that girl who took your gun. She pulled the trigger, she killed Omid."

Clementine wanted to argue with what Carley said, but she knew that the markswoman was right. There wasn't a single fact that was wrong with her statement. "It's not your fault honey. Now please stop blaming yourself." Carley said.

Clementine looked up to Carley and said, "Okay."

Suddenly, the four at the couch turned their attention to a loud whirling sound from outside. "The f***?" Kenny muttered. "Come on. Let's check that out." He got up and ran for the door.

Lee got up and placed Clementine back in her wheelchair. "I'll be right back. Just stay here and stay safe." Lee said as he got back up and left for the stairs alongside Carley. They headed outside to see most of the group out in the front of the ski lodge. The whipping sound was louder now and was accompanied by the wind's howl. "Kenny, what's going on?" Lee asked.

"The storm's got the wind turbine spinnin outta control. That sounds gonna draw walkers. We gotta shut it down now!" Kenny said.

Carlos turned to Nick and said, "Nick help me carry the guns." Nick nodded and the two went inside to retrieve any firearms that were in the ski lodge.

"Guns?" Sarita inquired.

"I'd better go get my axe." Lee said. He ran back inside to see Nick gathering up some of the firearms and Sarah going up to Carlos.

"Dad, what's going on?" Sarah asked.

"We have to shut down the wind turbine. Stay close to Alvin, Rebecca, and Clementine." Carlos said. The girl nodded and headed upstairs to where the three must have been. Lee grabbed his axe as the two men headed outside with their weapons. After everyone received a weapon, the group ran toward the wind mill.

Just as Kenny reached the control box, there was a loud explosion nearby. Everyone looked to where the sound of the explosion came from and Luke asked, "The hell was that?"

They looked back to the ski lodge to see the exterior lights turn off. "Dammit transformer must have gone. I'll need to go check it." Kenny said. He turned to the group and said, "I could use a hand."

"I'll go with you." Luke said.

"I'm going too." Sarita added.

"No! It's too dangerous!" Kenny said. He turned to the rest of the group and said, "The rest of you get this thing shut down." He then ran towards the blown transformer which must have been in the forest. Luke followed him as the rest of the group looked at the control box. Sarita opened it and looked inside to see all the switches and fuses.

"Does anyone know how to do this?" Carlos asked. He looked to Sarita who only shrugged, which indicated that she had no clue on how to shut down the machine. "Great." Carlos scoffed.

"It's not my forte, but I can do it." Lee said.

Carlos looked to him and said, "Alright, we'll cover you." He turned to Nick and said, "Nick scan the trees with me." Carlos walked over and joined Nick to keep look-out as Carley and Sarita watched Lee figure out the device.

Lee brought out his zippo lighter to use as a light to make the switches and fuses visible. He looked around the box until he found a key. He grabbed the key and placed it in the main switch and pressed it in. With that done, the turbine started to slow down until it came to a complete stop.

"Nice work." Carley said with a smile.

"Yeah, beats fixing that radio back at the pharmacy, huh?" Lee asked with a smirk on his face.

"Really? I knew you would never let that day go." Carley said with a frown.

"Something ain't right." Nick said as he continued to scan the tree line. Lee, Carley, and Sarita looked to him and could hear the sounds of gurgled growls and snarls. The volume and frequency of the growls and snarls increased as each second rolled by. It was as if the wind turbine was being surrounded by walkers. Finally, the sources of the growls became visible.

"We don't have much ammunition." Carlos said as he raised his gun.

"We got to get back to the lodge." Nick said. Suddenly, the growling intensified from behind the group and they turned to see walkers approaching them from the rear. "They're behind us!" Nick exclaimed. Carlos took aim with his handgun and shot a nearby walker. However, the walkers from behind proved to be persistent and continued towards the small group.

"Shit!" Lee exclaimed as a walker approached him. He grunted as he swung his axe down the creature's head. He quickly retrieved his axe and looked around to see that the group had scattered. Another walker approached him from behind, but with one swing of his axe, it was dead. Lee tried to run back for the ski lodge, but there was a herd blocking his road. Lee placed his axe near his feet and pulled out his handgun. He started to fire at the oncoming herd, and one-by-one, the herds numbers started to decrease. Each shot Lee fired was a bullseye to the head.

Suddenly, Lee's gun clicked indicating that it was empty. He still had two walkers limping towards him. "Son of a bitch." Lee muttered as he picked up his axe. He swung at the first walker's skull, but since both walkers were in close proximity of each other, Lee had to fight the other one without his axe. Lee hit the second walker with his fist to push the creature back. He continued to look around for a weapon until he noticed a thin, wooden plank. He grabbed the plank and delivered a blow to the walker's skull. The plank broke in half, but the blow forced the walker to the ground. Lee rushed past the walker and retrieved his axe from the other walker's skull. He turned to see the walker struggling to get up before he brought his axe down on it.

He looked over to see Carlos, Nick, Walter, Sarita, and Carley firing at the other walkers. They were in front of the ski lodge. Lee pulled out his axe and ran over to the group. "I'm out of ammo." Lee said.

"Go inside and check on the girls. The herd is starting to thin out. We'll handle the rest." Carlos said.

"Thank you." Lee said. He ran to the door and headed up the stairs. He looked over to see Rebecca, Alvin, Sarah, and Clementine watching the group take out the remaining walkers. "Clementine!" Lee exclaimed.

Clementine turned her head and said, "Daddy!" She turned the wheelchair around in time for the man to hug her.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked.

"I'm fine. I was worried about you." Clementine said.

The reunion was short-lived as the group could hear several gunshots being fired outside. The gunshots were different from the group's gunshots. These gunshots sounded further off and more rapid.

"What the hell…?" Alvin asked. The five inside the ski lodge turned to the large window to observe outside as more automatic gunfire erupted. Walkers fell left and right, and before any of the survivors knew it, the herd of walkers was dead.

"What's going on out there?" Lee asked. He soon got his answer as four people came out of the woods with three of them holding assault rifles. The three aimed at the group and the one without an assault rifle approached Carlos.

"Carver…" Rebecca muttered.

"Dammit." Lee muttered. The psychopath was the last thing he wanted to see.

The one armed with the revolver seemed to have been the one who was called Carver. He hit Carlos which made the doctor stumble backwards. "Dad!" Sarah exclaimed before she ran outside.

"Sarah!" Rebecca called out to the girl; however, the girl had already ran out the door.

They looked back to the window and saw Sarah run to Carlos. Carver turned to the ski lodge and pointed a finger towards it. It must have been a gesture to move since he and his guards escorted the cabin survivors, Walter, and Carley toward the ski lodge.

"Shit…" Alvin muttered. "We better hide." He and Rebecca headed for the stairs as Lee picked up Clementine and went to catch up to the two.

He heard the front doors open along with several pairs of footsteps as he went up the stairs. He heard one of the guards whistle in amazement. "Wow, look at this place. I think it had power." The guard said.

"Johnny, go cover that window." Lee heard another guard say. It was the woman that he heard when he was hiding from them back at the cabin… It was Bonnie.

Lee reached the top of the stairs and stayed crouched down to stay out of sight. He walked over to where Rebecca and Alvin were and held his breath. He didn't know what the psychopath on the floor below would do to find them and what he'd do to them.

Suddenly, he heard a grunt. It sounded like Carlos. "Dad!" Sarah exclaimed. It confirmed the fact that Carver was beating Carlos.

"Listen, I'm only going to ask you once. Where's Rebecca?" Carver said. His voice and attitude made Lee feel nervous. He wanted to stay out of sight to protect his daughter, but he couldn't let one of his few friends receive a pummeling or even worse.

"Sarah look at me. It's going to be okay." Carlos said but it was followed by a pained scream and a faint cracking sound. What was that crazed maniac doing to him?

"No!" Sarah cried out.

"Rebecca?" Carver shouted from the floor below. "Rebecca, our baby deserves to be raised in a place of safety. I know you are out there, with Alvin, Luke, some black man, and a crippled. This is real simple. If you want this over quick you all play nice and show your faces."

"Don't hurt my dad, please." Sarah pleaded. Her voice was cracking and it sounded almost like she was on the verge of crying.

Alvin moved toward the stairs in an act to surrender. "No, Alvin." Rebecca said.

Alvin stopped and looked to Rebecca. "We gotta go down there." Alvin said.

"I can't do that." Rebecca said.

"Bec… the baby… you need a doctor." Alvin said.

"We can't let him kill Carlos." Lee said.

"The only way to help him is to do what the man says." Alvin said.

"He'll kill you." Rebecca said to Alvin.

"My girl won't be safe either." Lee said which frightened Clementine. She held onto his shirt with a tighter grip as Carlos's cries could be heard echoing throughout the room again.

"DAAAD!" Sarah cried out.

"Lee can sneak out and find Kenny." Rebecca said.

"I don't want daddy to leave me." Clementine protested.

"I'm not leaving her." Lee said.

"We got only one option, Bec. Surrender." Alvin said.

The pregnant woman sighed before she stood up and yelled, "Bill, stop!"

Carver looked up to the second floor and smirked. "Ah." He said and he threw Carlos to the ground as Lee and Alvin also came out of their hiding spots and descended the stairs. Lee carried his daughter toward the group until a glaring guard cut him off.

"Are you alright?" Carver asked Rebecca as he caressed her cheek.

"F*** you, Bill." Rebecca snarled. But if anything, Carver only smirked as Rebecca went to join Alvin.

"Looks like they had a cripple with them, Bill." The guard said with an evil smirk aimed at the girl. Lee recognized the guard's voice. It was the hostile guard named Troy; a few days ago, he wanted to shoot anyone in the cabin. "How about I finish her off?" Troy said as he aimed the rifle at the girl in Lee's arms.

Clementine got as close as she possibly could towards Lee as he glared at the guard. "Leave her alone." Lee said.

"Troy… let me decide her fate." Carver said. "After all, this might not be her fault…" He wore an evil smirk and slouched down to be eye level with the girl. Troy grumbled under his breath before he lowered his weapon. Lee was helpless to do anything. He needed both arms to carry Clementine, and even if he could use one of his arms, it wouldn't help the situation. "Tell me, my dear, how'd this happen to you? Did someone do this to you or was this the result of your own stupidity?"

Clementine huffed and said, "It… It was just an accident."

"An accident made by whom?" Carver asked.

"Leave her alone, Bill. It's my fault. I shot her." Nick said.

Carver smiled upon getting a confession. He stood upright and approached Nick. "Why am I not surprised? You know Nick? You always were reckless." Nick lowered his head in shame as Carver's smile disappeared. "But not anymore." In one quick movement, he pulled out his revolver and shot the young man in the head.

Sarah and Clementine screamed in horror at the viciousness of the murder while the adults gasped. "The f***?" Lee muttered.

Carver looked over to Lee and said, "Nick has taken the place of your daughter. I imagine, even in her current state, that she'll be more useful to me than what he could ever be." He turned his head toward the only woman in his group and said, "Now… Bonnie, tie him up. Put his girl in her wheelchair and bind her wrists to the armrests… that'll keep her from moving."

Bonnie huffed in response as she looked to Nick's body. "Bonnie! I gave you an order!" Carver exclaimed.

"I… right… sorry, Bill." Bonnie said. She walked over and retrieved the wheelchair by the window and went toward Lee. It was evident that she was feeling guilty for dragging a father and his disabled daughter into the middle of this mayhem.

"Make sure you keep Clem safe for me." Lee said to Bonnie as he placed the girl in her wheelchair. Her whole body shook and she immediately grabbed Lee's retreating arms. "Honey, it's alright. You're going to be okay." Clementine looked down with a frown and nodded.

Bonnie snapped out of her daze restrained Lee and Clementine. Lee took heart that the girl was somewhat comfortable in her wheelchair and wasn't on the floor where her back would start hurting.

Suddenly, a gunshot sounded and busted through the glass. The shot went straight through Johnny's skull and he landed on the ground dead.

"Kenny…!" Sarita said in a somewhat worried tone.

Carver, Troy, and Bonnie quickly went into action. They raised their guns up towards the group to prevent them from getting excited. "Don't move!" Bonnie barked. The three then took cover behind a couple of columns and tried to see who the mystery marksmen could be. However, the storm and dark night made it impossible for them to make out anything. "I can't see them!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Watch them." Carver commanded and he went to Walter. He grabbed the man and placed him in a chokehold. Walter grunted in an attempt to breathe as Carver kept pushing him forward. Carver then pushed him to the ground and fired point-blank into Walter's skull.

"No!" Carlos exclaimed. Sarah continued to cry even louder than before and even started wailing.

"Walter!" Clementine exclaimed.

"That was for our man!" Carver shouted to the mystery sniper. "Now I didn't want to do that, but you ain't leaving me much option. So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to march another one of your friends out here and I'm going to put a bullet in the back of their head." Sarah wailed even louder out of fear of being next for Carver to shoot. "Or you can give up now, your choice."

Another shot was fired which hit the column that Carver was hiding behind. Carver merely shrugged and went up to Alvin. "Hi, Alvin." Carver said as he dragged the man to his feet.

"You motherf*****." Alvin spat.

"Alvin!" Rebecca exclaimed as she tried to stop Carver, but she was stopped by Troy who aimed his gun at her. "Bill no! Tell him to stop!" Rebecca shouted. "Kenny stop!"

Carver ignored her and kept his gun to Alvin's head. "You remember George, Alvin? You see, I do. I remember a guy who was your friend named George. I remember when you murdered him in cold blood. And why? Because you didn't like me?" Carver then stopped walking and continued as he kept his revolver at Alvin's temple. "You could have lodged a complaint. You could have… well you could have been civil about it."

"Bill no! We'll do whatever you want!" Rebecca pleaded.

Alvin turned to Rebecca and said, "I love you, Bec."

"BILL PLEASE!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"KEN!" Carley exclaimed.

"Kenny stop!" Lee exclaimed. However, his yells went on deaf ears. Another shot rang out and hit Caver. Lee huffed and said, "Please be dead."

However, much to the group's horror, the evil tyrant got up and shot Alvin in the head. "ALVIN!" Rebecca exclaimed. She fell to her knees and looked to the corpse of her husband.

Lee turned his head upon hearing Clementine whimper. "Please make him stop… please make him stop." She said as she kept her eyes closed tight.

Carver walked over and grabbed Sarita next. "F***! Kenny, stop man!" Lee exclaimed.

Carver held Sarita at gunpoint and explained, "We can do this all night. Is that what you want?" Carver asked.

Finally the doors to the ski lodge opened and everyone looked over to see Kenny raising his hands in surrender. Bonnie went over and tied him up and shoved him to join the others. Carver returned to the group with Sarita and placed her back into her original spot

Kenny took Walter's spot as he glared at Carver. "Where's Luke?" Carver inquired. No one answered as Carver continued, "Finally cut and run, huh? Why am I not surprised?" Carver approached Carlos and said, "I warned you. I warned you not to follow him. And look where he's led you." Carver then walked away from the group and looked around the ski lodge. He was unimpressed by the layout of the building. He turned back to the group and said, "But you're safe now." Carver said. He approached Rebecca and said, "We're going home now, as a family." Carver then eyed the bulge of Rebecca stomach which was her baby. Rebecca looked over to her dead husband before she looked down with a frown.

Carlos looked down also saddened but by the fact that he was going back to the community that he hated. Sarah shared her father's sadness as she whimpered in fear of what would happen next. Clementine seemed to have calmed down from the murders that she witnessed, but she was worried. Would Carver really spare her?

"Alright. Round them up." Carver told Troy and Bonnie. "We're heading back to camp. With that, one-by-one, each person from the group was hoisted up and forced to leave with the exception of Clementine who was pushed by Bonnie. Lee hoped that Bonnie wouldn't get too angry to the point that she would hurt Clementine for almost getting shot at by Kenny. The captured group was taken from the building which was now the graveyard for Walter, Alvin, and Nick.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Yeah, I know it's shorter than my usual chapter, but oh well… I didn't expect this chapter to be this short. The next chapter starts off with Episode 3.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

The group had found their way to a nearby truck. The guards forced them into the back of the vehicle, and they proceeded on a long drive. Thankfully, Clementine was allowed to remain in her wheelchair. The device and its occupant was tied down with the use of some rope and the use of the wheelchair's manual break. They had spent several hours on the road in silence to mourn for the deaths of their friends. The vehicle jerked from hitting a couple of bumps until Kenny spoke up, "Alright, we got to do something. Come on. Anyone got anything sharp? Anything? We need to get these bindings off." Kenny then looked to Lee as he found that no one else was willing to assist him. "Hey! Lee, help me find something that will get these off. Anything sharp that can cut these…"

"And what good is that going to do?" Rebecca asked.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" Kenny inquired. "We got to get out of here."

"Kenny, think man… We're not in a position to do anything and there's no way out of this thing." Lee said.

"Are you f****** serious, Lee? We need to get out of here!" Kenny exclaimed. "We're in a f****** precarious position here. We got to do something about that!"

"Settle down, Kenny." Carlos said. "They took everything from us. We have to keep a level head."

"He's right." Rebecca said. "You don't know Bill like we do."

"Bill?" Kenny inquired. "This whole time it has been Carver, Carver, Carver. And now it's Bill?" The truck hit another bump from outside and the back shook. "Oh, I see what it is. Y'all are just getting a ride home, aren't ya? That's what's going on here."

"You don't understand. He's different… he's worse." Rebecca said.

"The f*** are you talking about?" Kenny snarled.

"He-He's not going to kill us, right?" Clementine asked.

"I don't think so. Otherwise, he would have done it back in the lodge." Carley said.

"He's a f****** psychopath!" Kenny exclaimed.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Oh he gave me a pretty damn good idea back at the lodge, and I don't intend to sit around here and let that happen to the rest of us!" Kenny said. The vehicle hits another bump as Kenny continued, "I'm trying to help!"

"And I'm sure Walter really appreciated that help!" Carlos criticized Kenny.

"Like you helped Alvin." Rebecca said in a cold tone.

Kenny looked down with a frown at the mention of the two people who were slain as a result of his attack on Carver. "That's not fair. You're blaming him for the actions of a madman!" Sarita said.

"Let's face it. That asshole was off his rocker to begin with. I doubt he was going to spare either of them." Lee said.

Carlos sighed and said, "You're right. He outright killed Nick for no particular reason." He looked up to Kenny and said, "I'm sorry, but you have calm down. Rash actions will only put us at risk and we can't afford that with Sarah and Clementine in here."

"So what do you suggest?" Lee asked.

"We go in there and look for an opening. There has to be something we can use." Carlos said.

"Who knows how long that will take?" Kenny said. "That asshole is a ticking time bomb and with the girls… it's just too risky."

"It's more risky to go your route." Carlos said.

"Stop fighting!" Clementine exclaimed. "Please…"

"Clem's right. We need to figure out a plan." Carley said.

"We'll have a better look at their defenses once we're there." Lee said.

"And we still have Luke out there." Carlos said.

"If he was going to do something, he would have done it by now." Kenny said.

"Who knows what he's dealing with." Rebecca said. "Anything can happen out there."

"I'll tell you what happened." Kenny said. "He abandoned us; after all, this is what he wanted for Clementine."

"What are you talking about?" Carlos asked.

"Luke wanted me to… kill Clem so he could keep the rest of you safe, but I refused." Lee said. Clementine began hyperventilate again. She didn't like all of the recent attention that her disability was giving her.

"I… I can't believe Luke would ever do something like that." Carlos said.

"We might be on our own on this one." Lee said.

"Hmm… Luke's made some stupid mistakes in the past, but this beats them all." Carlos said with a bitter tone in his voice. Suddenly there were series of bumps which rocked the vehicle.

"We're close." Carlos said.

"Okay, are you sure that this plan of yours is going to work? We're just going to find a weakness inside?" Kenny asked.

"I guess we'll find out." Carlos said. A loud beeping sound filled the air which indicated that the truck was backing up. Sarah started to whimper in fear which got Carlos's attention. "Sh… it's alright, sweetie. We're going to be alright."

There were several seconds afterwards where the beeping sound continued until it forced everyone to sway from colliding with something from outside. A few moments later everyone could hear Troy's bantering. "Damn brakes ain't working for shit!" Troy spat from the other side of the door. The door was lifted up, and in front of the door stood Troy, Bonnie, and an African-American woman with each holding an assault rifle.

"Alright, up and at em!" The African-American woman said. The group slowly got up from their seats and were led from the truck. However, Lee looked to Clementine with concerned eyes.

"Don't worry. I got your little girl." Bonnie said.

Lee was more than hesitant to trust Bonnie, but he knew that he had no other options. "Thank you." Lee said. He looked over to Clementine and said, "It's alright, honey. You're going to be fine." Lee said. He walked out of the truck. He walked on feeling nervous.

"You okay?" Carley asked.

"No, I don't want to be away from her. It doesn't feel right." Lee said.

Carley turned back and smiled. "That Bonnie girl is with her. They're right behind us. So how about you relax?" Carley said. The two could hear the door to the truck slam shut which was followed by Troy passing them. He caught up with the African-American woman and the two led the group while Bonnie took the rear and continued to push Clementine. The two in front pushed the doors open to the store. It was intimidating. The store was covered in guards. They were all standing around with assault rifles at the ready. It was a display of power.

Meanwhile, Carver could be heard over the PA. "We've got some familiar faces back with us tonight." Carver explained. "Now, I understand some of you are confused as to why we'd bring some of these people back when they left us as they did."

"I think I got an idea." The African-American woman commented from the front of the group.

"It might not come all at once." Carver continued over the PA. "But time will heal these wounds, so be patient with them until it does… And take solace in knowing that they're here to help us make this home a better place. All these feelings you have of anger…betrayal….hate… they're all valid. No one needs to forget what they did… but we have to find it in our hearts to forgive them."

The group continued forward as Lee looked over to the shelves of food. "They got quite a bit of food." Lee said. "Man, I wish we had that kind of food when it was just Christa, Clem and me."

"Come on, we need you for something." Troy said to Carlos.

"Can't it wait until morning?" Carlos asked. "We're all exhausted."

"Just come the f*** on." Troy said with a bitter tone in his voice which left no room for argument.

Carlos sighed and he followed Troy over to talk to a young woman as Sarah stopped. "I need him. I need my dad. He-He takes care of me." Sarah said. She, Lee, Carley, Bonnie, and Clementine stopped as Troy walked back over and gestured them to move on.

"Come honey. Your father's going to be fine." Lee said to the girl. Having no choice, the young girl kept moving with the adults following her.

"He'll come back, sweetie." Carley said to keep the girl's spirits high.

"When?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know but he will come back." Carley said. "If you need anything, you just come to me or Lee."

Sarah smiled to the older woman and said, "Okay. Thanks Carley."

Lee looked back to Clementine and asked, "You okay Clem?" The girl nodded in response but it was easy to see that she felt nervous having a complete stranger push her.

"Just shut up and keep moving." Troy said.

"Hey, it's alright for him to worry about his little girl." Bonnie snapped at the heartless guard.

"Why bother having her around? Bill should have offed back at the lodge… or at least let me do it." Troy said as an evil smirk formed on his lips. Lee sent a glare toward the guard before he turned back around.

"Troy, do us all a favor and shut up for once." Bonnie said as she continued push Clementine.

The group made its way to a garage door where the African-American woman was. "Make sure y'all are off the fence." The African-American woman warned. "Bill can see if you're messin with it." She opened the garage door and turned to Troy and Bonnie and said, "Take off their bindings and close up shop. I gotta go make a report."

The group entered the courtyard which now acted as a prison. The courtyard consisted of a fire pit and lawn chairs that surrounded the fire pit. Next to the fire pit were a couple of dining tables and furthest from the fire pit was plywood which acted as bedding.

Troy and Bonnie took off the group's bindings with each person rubbing their wrists once the bindings were gone. "Y'all better get some rest, cause there ain't going to much for ya tomorrow. You're going to be working hard." Troy said.

"That's for you." Bonnie said as she gestured to the cot that was adjacent to the garage door.

"Yeah, it would be." Rebecca said with a glare. "F****** Bill. Leaves me out in the cold, but at least I will be comfortable"

"Do you… happen to have one for Clem? She's had a bad back since Nick shot her." Lee said as he approached Bonnie.

"I'm sorry, but my hands are tied on this one. I'll ask Bill if she can have one for tomorrow night." Bonnie said.

"Hey guys." An unknown voice chimed.

Rebecca looked to the man and exclaimed, "Reggie!" She gasped upon seeing him and went up to the man. "I'm so sorry!" Rebecca exclaimed as she hugged him. "I'm so sorry." They separated from the hug and Rebecca saw that he had lost his left arm. "What happened to you?"

"This could have been worse. Trust me." Reggie said. "I'm lucky to be alive."

"Now, who's that?" Lee asked Sarah.

"That's Reggie." Sarah said. "He was supposed to come with us when we tried to leave."

"What happened to his arm?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know." Sarah said as she looked back to Reggie with a questionable stare. "He still had both arms when we left."

The three looked back to Reggie as he continued to explain his story. "…A walker must have snuck up on me while I was hammering in something. It's a good thing they took the arm off quickly. Saved my life."

"That's awful." Rebecca said. "I'm so sorry."

"Enough with the apologies already. It was my decision to help you guys." Reggie said.

"Hey, Reggie." Troy said as he approached the man.

"Oh… hey Troy." Reggie said somewhat reluctant to talk to him.

"Don't go f***** up now!" Troy spat. "Bill's real close to letting you out of here. You make sure everything stays nice and quiet out here tonight, and I'll be sure to let Bill know just how helpful you were."

"Yeah, you can count on me. Thanks Troy." Reggie replied.

"Don't mention it." Troy said and he and Bonnie left the courtyard. They closed the garage door as they left.

Reggie who looked to the rest of the group with a questioning stare. "Oh right. Let me introduce you. We were with them when we got caught." Rebecca explained.

Reggie smiled and he went to greet the newcomers. "Hi, I'm Reggie."

"That's Sarita…" Rebecca introduced the Indian-American woman.

"Hello." Sarita greeted the man.

"That's Kenny." Rebecca continued.

"Hi there." Kenny said with a smile.

Reggie turned to Lee who nodded to the one-armed man. "Hey, name's Lee."

"Hi." Reggie greeted.

"I'm Carley." Carley said as she stepped up to greet Reggie.

"Hi, there. It's nice to meet you both." Reggie said. His eyes wandered toward Clementine and his smile fell. "Hi, who are you."

"I'm Clementine." The eleven year old said with a friendly demeanor.

"It's nice to meet you." Reggie said. "I don't mean any offense, but what happened to you?"

"It… It was an accident. Nick shot me." Clementine said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I bet it isn't easy." Reggie said as he aimed an apologetic stare towards the girl. "I hope it isn't permanent."

"We… uh don't exactly know yet." Lee said. Reggie turned to the older man as he continued, "That all happened a few weeks ago. Carlos did say that the spine wasn't damaged beyond repair, but we don't have the equipment to help fix it."

"Hmm… well that's too bad… You must be her father." Reggie said.

"Yeah, kind of… I adopted her for her tenth birthday." Lee explained.

"Well, good for you." Reggie said. He looked around the group and a frown formed on his face. "Hey, where is everyone? Is it just you and Sarah?" Reggie asked as he turned back to Rebecca.

"Carlos is inside." Carley said. "He must be doing something in the medical facility."

"What about everyone else?" Reggie asked.

"Helen got bit a few weeks after we left." Rebecca said as she frowned. "There was nothing we could do for her. Pete got ripped apart by several other walkers about a week ago. I don't know where Luke is and f****** Bill killed my husband and Nick."

"And if he wouldn't have killed Nick, he would have killed my girl." Lee said.

Rebecca sent a glare towards Lee and said, "Your girl should have been the one to die back there, not Nick. Nick didn't do anything wrong."

"And neither did my girl. Do you think she wanted that to happen?" Lee said. "Nick made his choice and stood up for her."

"He would still be alive if it wasn't for her." Rebecca snapped.

"You don't know that. You know how crazy this Carver guy is." Carley said.

"Can you guys save it for the morning?" An angry exclamation was heard from one of the plywood beds. The group looked over to see a lean man who wore a gray and black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes with a slight glare and he continued, "Some of us have to get up early in the morning."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Clementine said. In response, the man placed the pillow on top of his head to ignore some of the noise.

"Who's that, Reggie?" Rebecca asked. She had calmed down from her confrontation with Lee. "I don't recognize the voice."

"That's Mike." Reggie said. "He's kind of a dick when he's tired but… he saved my life so I put up with that shit. Bill put him to work outside the wall with me."

"I'm so sorry." Rebecca said.

"Stop with all of the sorry." Reggie said. "It was my choice. Besides, he said once you were all caught, he'd let me rejoin the group, so I'm glad that you are here." Clementine looked over and noticed that there was a young woman who was glaring at the group. She wore a brown leather jacket, a light blue pair of jeans, and black combat boots.

Reggie scoffed as he continued, "I'm just kidding."

"I know." Rebecca replied.

"He did actually say that, but it's probably bullshit." Reggie said.

"Who's she?" Clementine asked.

"Hm? Who?" Reggie asked.

"That girl over there." Clementine replied as she gestured to the young woman.

Reggie looked over to the woman as she got up from the table and headed for one of the plywood beds. "Oh yeah, her. Okay, so she's f****** weird." Reggie explained. "They found her sneaking around outside of the camp covered in guts and like the grossest shit."

"Ew…" Sarah shuddered at the thought of Reggie's details.

Clementine and Lee looked to each other with a knowing stare. They remembered doing the same as her to prevent detection from the walkers back in Savannah. Somehow that young woman also figured out how to disguise herself.

"I know how it must look, but… it really is not that bad here." Reggie explained.

"Reggie…" Rebecca said.

"No, I'm serious!" Reggie exclaimed. "Where else are you going to find food like we have? We've got the canned stuff and now with the greenhouses coming along we've got fresh food. The building's getting more and more secure all the time… mostly through forced labor, but that's only temporary. They've even gotten the solar panels working. When was the last time you've had electricity, huh?"

"We actually came from a place powered by a wind turbine." Sarah said.

"It's not a competition." Reggie said. "I'm just saying that it's not as bad as you think. We're building something great here. A real community and Bill is making it happen."

"That does not make up for what he's done, Reggie." Rebecca said.

"Look, I made mistakes and Bill had every right to kill me, but he didn't and instead he's giving me a shot at redemption." Reggie explained. "I wasn't looking at all of my options earlier, but now with my arm, I'm starting to see what this place has to offer."

"That doesn't matter." Lee said. "My little girl wasn't able to walk out there amongst all those walkers. I was nervous when we were out there, but now, I'm horrified. Your leader is just too dangerous to be around."

"He is not." Reggie said. "Bill's just under a lot of stress and it didn't help that you guys left like you did."

"Speak for yourself." Carley said as she sent a glare towards Reggie. "The way I see it, we got dragged into the middle of all this shit for no reason."

Reggie sighed and said, "Listen, I'm really close to getting let back into the group and once that happens, I can do a lot more to help you guys get comfortable."

"Comfortable?" Kenny inquired. "What do you think this is?"

"I just don't want you guys to mess things up for me. I've worked really hard to get to this point." Reggie explained. "Will you please just try not to cause any trouble?"

"We won't cause you any trouble." Clementine said.

"They're expecting me to keep things in line out here." Reggie said.

"Well, if Carver's such a 'great guy' I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." Kenny said. He received a glare from Sarita which went unnoticed by him.

"We can at least talk about it in the morning." Reggie said. "Just have a quiet night and chat again tomorrow."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing." Rebecca said. Suddenly, Rebecca jolted from a sharp pain that came from her stomach. She gasped and grabbed her stomach. "I need to sit down." Rebecca said.

Sarita approached Rebecca and said, "Yeah, come on. Sarah? Can you help me find something to drink for her?"

"Yeah, okay." Sarah replied as she went towards the fire pit.

"Yeah, there's some water over by the benches." Reggie explained as the three walked to the fire pit. "That didn't go as planned… should've actually made a plan." Reggie remarked as he walked towards the group, leaving Kenny, Carley, Lee, and Clementine to talk amongst themselves.

Kenny crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Man, f*** that guy. I don't think we can trust him. Clearly, he has drank too much of the Kool-Aid."

"Yeah… he seems too dangerous." Lee said. "He'll do anything to get back in there which might include telling Carver about us making a plan to leave."

"We can't talk about any plans on leaving around him." Carley said. Lee looked around the area that they were in and huffed.

"What's the matter?" Kenny asked.

"There's no way we're getting out from in here. This place seems pretty boarded up." Lee said.

"Well go ahead and look around. There might be a weak point. That Troy asshole is gone for now." Kenny said as he looked to the garage door. "This is our chance. Don't worry about Reggie. I'll go help run interference on him." Kenny then went to the fire pit and started to talk to Reggie.

"I got Clem. We'll spend some time catching up." Carley said as she took the handles to the girl's wheelchair.

Lee nodded and said, "Thanks Carley." Carley smiled to Lee before she pushed Clementine over by the fire. Lee looked back to the wall and approached it. He noticed it was too high up for any of them to scale it. He turned to be face to face with the young woman that his adopted daughter saw earlier. He jumped back from being surprised and looked to the woman with a questioning stare. "Can I help you?" Lee asked.

The young woman looked over to Clementine and back to him and glared. "Why is she still alive? She'll always be liability. You should have done her favor by offing her." The young woman said.

Lee crossed his arms over his chest and sent a glare towards the woman. "First of all, that isn't your decision to make. Secondly, she wasn't always wheelchair bound. And finally, I've already had to deal with someone just like you. I don't want another conversation like this." Lee said.

"Sounds like that person knew what they were talking about." The young woman said. "Look, I'm going to make this plain and simple so an idiot like you could understand. Your girl has to die otherwise people will die in her place. Whatever she could have been is gone now. She's not worth protecting."

"I'm more than capable enough to take care of her." Lee said.

The woman's glare intensified and she said, "I doubt it. Here's your options. You can either kill her off or I'm going to kill her myself."

"If you hurt her in any way, I will kill you." Lee said.

The young woman spat in Lee's face which made him break off his glare. He wiped off the saliva while grumbling under his breath. "F*** you asshole." The woman said as she held up her middle finger before retreating to the plywood beds.

Lee shook his head in disgust of the disrespectful woman before he finished his investigation. It was no use. The defenses were too strong for him to find a way out and there was nothing that could be deemed useful in his investigation. Lee walked back over to Kenny as the older man turned to him after talking to Reggie. "Hey, you find anything?" Kenny asked.

"Nothing. Defenses are too strong in here." Lee said.

"Damn…" Kenny muttered. "I was hoping you find something that these old eyes of mine missed. They seem to be getting more useless by the day."

Lee chuckled and said, "I hear you. I ain't exactly getting younger myself."

Suddenly the garage door opened up. Everyone looked over to see Carlos walking into the courtyard with Troy escorting him.

"Dad!" Sarah exclaimed and she ran up to hug her father.

"Alright, the rest of you go the f*** to sleep." Troy barked. "I'm shootin the first of y'all that I see wonderin around before sun-up." In his typical sour mode, Troy left the yard and slammed the garage door shut.

Lee turned to Clementine and Carley and said, "I guess we don't have a choice." He got down and picked up the younger girl. Clementine rested her head on his chest as he carried her over to the plywood beds.

"Did you or Ken find anything?" Carley asked.

"No, I hope we can find an opening in the hardware store." Lee said.

"Yeah… or Luke can come and help us." Carley said. "He is one of the last people out there."

Lee looked down with a doubtful stare before he laid Clementine down next to one of the plywood beds. He laid down next to her and placed an arm around her upper body. He didn't care that his arm would be asleep by tomorrow morning. He just didn't want her to be in too much pain.

"Daddy, what are we going to do now?" Clementine asked. She looked to him with curious and scared eyes.

"I'm not sure if there's much we can do sweet pea. We're kind of stuck at the moment." Lee said.

"Will we ever get to Wellington?" Clementine asked.

Lee smiled and said, "Yeah… one day soon we'll get up there. Now get some sleep." The girl nodded and closed her eyes as Lee did the same. He hoped that if they do find Wellington that he could end the walkers and bring some sense of normalcy back to the world. In the back of his mind, Lee also hoped that there was a way that Clementine could walk again. He could tell that her disability was taking a toll on her. She didn't mind it back at the lodge, but out in this world, Clementine was struggling. Lee's troubled mind soon drifted off and allowed him to sleep.

* * *

Lee grunted upon feeling a kick to his arm. He groaned as he awoke to see Troy's glare. It was too early in the morning to deal with the heartless guard. "What do you want?" Lee asked with a glare of his own.

"Get up… Bill's going to have a word with you assholes." Troy said.

Lee turned to Clementine and shook her awake. "Clem, Clem, time to wake up." Lee said.

The girl groaned from being woken up and she asked, "What's going on?" She rubbed her eyes as Lee placed her on the ground.

"Time to get up." Lee said as he got up. He leaned down to pick her up, but he was stopped when he felt the barrel of Troy's gun.

"Hold it right there." Troy said. "You're going to get up, now." Lee grumbled to himself but obliged. He didn't want to leave Clementine on the ground for very long. Troy's glare was gone and now it was replaced with an evil smirk. "I need some entertainment especially since I'll be babysitting you assholes all day." He turned to Clementine and said, "Now, you, get to that door over there." He gestured to the garage door that would lead into Howe's.

Both Clementine and Lee were shocked by the command. "Now hold up, she can't walk." Lee said.

"Well no shit, Sherlock. That's why it's going to be entertaining." Troy said. He turned back to Clementine and said, "Now get going. I want to see you crawl."

"This is not happening." Lee said as he went pick up Clementine, but he was stopped when Troy held him at gunpoint.

"Oh yeah? Then how about I blow your brains out!" Troy snapped. "Come on make my day!" Lee glared at the guard and was about to respond.

"Okay, I'll go to the door." Clementine said.

"Clem-" Lee said, but she interrupted him.

"I don't want you getting hurt daddy. Just… I'll be fine." Clementine said. Troy turned with an amused smirk aimed at the girl. He started to laugh as he watched her turn her body so that she was on her belly and that her body was aimed for the door.

"Oh man, this is rich." Troy said as Lee watched on with the horrible feeling of being helpless. He wanted to go over and pick up the girl but he knew that she would be devastated if he tried and Troy would fulfill his promise of killing him. Clementine continued to drag herself across the pavement as Troy continued to laugh.

A small smile crept on Lee's face as he watched her drag herself to wheelchair. He mentally praised her on her quick wit, but his smile didn't last long. Troy noticed the where the girl was going and walked over to kick the wheelchair down. "I said nothing about you getting in that hunk of shit." Troy spat as he aimed his assault rifle at the girl. "Now, go the rest of the way."

"That's enough!" Lee exclaimed. His glare was aimed at the heartless guard. "She's not going all the way to that garage door."

Troy sent a glare of his own and shouted, "Oh yes she will, or I'm going to stick this gun up your ass and start shootin! How does that sound?"

"Enough Troy." A new voice said. Both men turned to see an Asian man who had Clementine in his arms. He sent a glare toward Troy.

"F*** you, Vince." Troy snapped. "You're always ruinin my fun."

"You're one sick motherf******… only a heartless asshole like you would force a disabled child to crawl across the pavement and consider it fun." The guard said. Troy glared at the guard and walked away toward the garage door. As he did so, he pushed the guard that confronted him about his psychotic behavior

"Thank you." Clementine said as she looked up to the guard with an appreciative stare. He smiled back down to the girl as Lee walked over to pull the wheelchair back up.

"I owe you one." Lee said.

"No, you don't." Vince said as he placed the girl back into her wheelchair. "Hell, giving me an excuse to give Troy shit made my week."

"I'm Lee and this is Clementine." Lee said.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Vince." The guard said. Vince looked back to the gate and said, "We better get over there. Bill's going to be coming out any minute now." Lee nodded and he started to push Clementine's wheelchair toward the garage door with Vince following behind.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Well, you guys saw this coming. You all know that I hate Troy and Jane.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Well, I'll be switching gears a little bit in this chapter. It will be for the most part in Lee's perspective, but it will also be in Clementine's.**

 ***IMPORTANT* Anyone who has been to a multitude to my stories knows that I value views more than reviews, favorites, and followers. As long as I see that people are reading my works, I will be motivated to write, but it seems that there's a huge bug in the system and support hasn't done anything for five whole days which is about to become six. I feel like I've lost my motivation to write and it's not your guys' fault. I'm very, very sorry, but until this bug is dealt with, my updating will be at a snail's pace.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee and Clementine joined the group just in time for the garage door to open. Carver approached the group with two other guards. One was the African-American woman from last night. "There's been increased activity along the fence so be mindful when outside the walls. The herd's moved closer as of this morning, but that still doesn't necessarily mean we'll be hit. Know that we're monitoring the situation." Carver sighed and said, "Now… there might be some folks who are sore about what happened… at how things went. That's all in the past now. Some of you are new to our community, some of you are members that went astray. But know that you can find redemption here… forgiveness… by proving your worth through what will undoubtedly be hard work."

Carver turned to Reggie and said, "Reggie, you're nearly back in. Keep following the path, and we'll welcome you back with open arms."

"So how'd you sleep?" Sarah asked. Lee looked over to see Sarah awaiting a response from Clementine who seemed to be keeping her eyes fixated on Carver.

Carver sent a glare at Sarah but he continued, "I'll let Reggie be an example to you all-"

"I'll talk to you later. We need to pay attention right now." Clementine said.

"Oh sure. I know that I'm really stiff from-" Sarah said.

"CARLOS!" Carver shouted which caught everyone's attention. Sarah and Clementine stiffened and looked to the tyrant.

"Yes?" The doctor asked.

"Your child seems to be in need of correction." Carver said.

"I'm sorry, I-" Carlos began but he trailed off. Carlos looked to Sarah and said, "Sarah a-apologized to Mr. Carver."

"Sorry." Sarah said as her whole body shook in fear. "I'm sorry sir."

"No, no. That ain't going to cut it." Carver said as he approached the doctor. "I can't have this kind of behavior on day one of your reform. You discipline her now, Carlos."

"How do you propose that I-" Carlos began to ask but Carver interrupted him.

"One good smack across the mouth should do it." Carver said. He sent a glare toward the frightened teenager and said, "It'll make her think twice before opening it up again." He looked back to Carlos and said, "Go on, we'll wait."

Everyone, except the heartless guards, looked to Carver in surprise, even Reggie and Vince were shocked to see Carver act so cold and heartless.

"Well, I'm not sure with my hand that I can-" Carlos started to say as he raised his hand with two broken digits.

"Well, that's why you got two hands, Carlos." Carver interrupted the doctor once again. "Come on. And not some namby pamby thing, alright?" Carver went up to the doctor and continued. "A good hard smack. Otherwise, Troy here will do it for ya." Carver indicated to the heartless guard behind him. "He can be… overzealous." Carver then turned to Troy and asked. "Is that the word?"

"If it means that I'll smack the shit out of her, then yeah." Troy said with a smirk.

"The f*** is wrong with you?" Carley inquired as she approached Carver with a glare. "She's just a child and she only made a small mistake! This is our first day here. How about a little leniency?"

All at once, Carver turned around slapped Carley with the back of his hand. It must have a hard smack since it sent the markswoman to the ground. "Carley…" Lee said as he ran over to help her, but Troy stopped him by shoving the barrel of his gun into Lee's face.

"If you ever talk to me like that again, I will kill you." Carver said with a glare aimed at Carley. Carley sent a glare back at Carver. She was unaffected and unafraid of the madman. The evil tyrant turned his gaze to Carlos and said, "Well, what are you waiting for? You discipline her now!" His eyes glared with an icy cold stare that told the doctor to do as he was asked.

Carlos looked down with a frown and obliged as he stood in front of his daughter. Sarah shook in fear of being hurt by her own father. "I'm sorry dad. I'm so sorry." Sarah said as tears formed in her eyes.

"Close your eyes honey." Carlos said. "It's only going to sting for a second." Sarah looked down with a frown. She must have felt that she disappointed Carlos. Carlos remained hesitant in hitting his daughter.

"Do it!" Carver commanded after several seconds of hesitation. Carlos sent an apologetic stare at Sarah which was followed up with a hard smack across her face. Sarah fell to the ground and whimpered from the hit. Lee flinched upon seeing Sarah get hit. He would have hated it if it was him who had to hit his daughter.

Sarah continued to weep to which Carlos instinctively approached her and said, "I'm sorry, Sarah."

"Stop!" Carver snapped. "You are not coddling that girl anymore. Let her sit there and think about what she's done." Carver turned to Carley who got up and glared at the madman. "Hm… you're different. I'll have to discipline you in another way." Carver said. He turned to Troy and said, "Troy, get Carlos to his post. Everyone else should have their assignments. It's time to get to work." He then grabbed Carley's arm and headed inside. Carley tried to get out of his grip but the older man was stronger.

"Carley!" Lee exclaimed as he went for the door.

"Don't even think about it, motherf*****!" Troy exclaimed. His gun was still aimed at Lee. Lee had no choice but to oblige and watch Carver drag Carley away.

"Bill!" Vince yelled after in an attempt to stop him.

Troy went over to Carlos and smirked as he looked over Sarah. "Damn, you really did knock the shit out of her doc."

"F*** this shit." Vince muttered.

"What was that, coin slot?" Troy asked. Suddenly, Vince turned and hit the guard with the butt of his rifle.

"Ow! Dammit, you f***!" Troy exclaimed as he rubbed the new bruise on his face from the hit.

"Don't ever call me that again. Now get up and get Carlos to his station." Vince said with a glare aimed at the heartless guard. He turned to the other group members and said, "The rest of you are with me."

"I don't take orders from you." Troy said as he got back up.

"Then maybe I'll go tell Bill about your insubordination to his orders. Bill told you to take Carlos to his post, so do it, now." Vince said.

Troy's glare intensified and he muttered, "Fine." He grumbled to himself and went to retrieve the doctor. "Let's go." Carlos looked down to his whimpering daughter one last time before he headed inside the warehouse.

 **Clementine's POV**

"Come on, you'll be in the armory today." The African-American woman from last night said.

Clementine nodded and started to follow the African-American woman inside. Clementine knew that Lee was watching her. She felt nervous being away from him especially with Carver and Troy being inside the same building. Both were very hostile and dangerous. As she continued to push the wheels of her wheelchair down the hall, Clementine couldn't help but worry about Carley. What would Carver do to her? She didn't do anything that bad. All she did was stand up for Sarah, but that was more than enough to make the tyrant snap.

"Who is this?" A teenage girl asked. Her voice brought Clementine out of her thoughts. Clementine looked to the teenager who had a disgusted look aimed at her. "It doesn't look like she can do much. Why'd they bother bringing her?"

A young woman turned around and looked to Clementine. She immediately gave a remorseful stare. "She's one of the new people… I think you should give her chance. You never know she might save your life."

"I doubt it." The girl said.

"Anyway, she was with Carlos and Sarah and-" The young woman explained but she was cut off by the teenager.

"Ugh, not Sarah." The girl complained as she turned back to the woman. "I wish she'd stay gone."

"She's had a hard time, Becca." The woman said.

Clementine continued forward but she still listened in on their conversation. "So have we." The teenage girl, Becca, said. "But, we're not sitting on the ground crying like babies."

Clementine and the African-American woman approached a metal door. "Go on inside. Bonnie's waiting." The African-American woman said as she held the door open for Clementine. She entered the door and rolled the wheels of her wheelchair toward the red haired woman. Bonnie sat in front of an ammo box and waited for the girl to join her.

"Hey, I guess you're starting your day with me." Clementine nodded and watched Bonnie grab an empty magazines and handed it to her. "We're loadin magazines." Clementine looked down to the ammo box and placed the first couple of bullets in it. "That's it. You got it." Bonnie praised the girl. Clementine didn't smile though. She didn't know if Bonnie was the enemy or a friend. It was too hard to tell. She seemed rather angry with Kenny's attack, but she also seemed like she wanted to help.

They continued to load the magazines for several seconds until Bonnie said, "I suppose that I owe you an apology… I came across that lodge lookin for Luke and them, but then Walter saw me out back… I lied and told him that I had a family and what he did next… it surprised me… he showed me a kindness I never would have expected from a group of strangers. But now… folks are dead… and I can't help but feel I'm to blame. But the plan was for no one to get hurt."

Clementine looked to Bonnie with a surprised stare. "H-How could you do that? Walter trusted you and…"

"I know. I know!" Bonnie said with a frown. "I feel so bad right now. I feel like I just let a friend die when I know I could have helped him." She sighed as she continued to load her magazine. Clementine did the same, but now she had a frown forming on her lips. "I never wanted any of that to happen. I thought if I found Luke and them that I could have had control of the situation, but I guess I was wrong." A long pause followed. Bonnie felt guilty for the lives that were lost at the lodge while Clementine felt a conflict within herself. She couldn't trust Bonnie, could she? "So how was your first night in the yard? Hopefully, you'll have a mattress to sleep on tonight. I told Bill that you'll need one because of your condition."

"It felt like a prison. No food, little water, and having to wake up and crawl toward my wheelchair." Clementine said with a frown.

"Wait, didn't your daddy help you?" Bonnie asked as she looked up to the girl.

Clementine also looked up and said, "He couldn't. That mean guard named Troy held him at gunpoint and made me crawl to my wheelchair, and if I didn't do what he said, he would have shot my daddy."

Bonnie's face scrunched up in surprise but it took no time to turn into anger. "That f*****!" Bonnie snapped. "He's done some low shit, but that is beyond horrid."

Clementine nodded and said, "It's a good thing one of the guards stopped him. I think his name was Vince."

Bonnie smiled and said, "I know him. Vince is a good guy."

"Yeah…" Clementine said as she continued to fill the magazine with rounds.

"You know, I was supposed to go… when Luke, Carlos, and all of em left, I was planning on leaving too." Bonnie said. "When Luke approached me about it, I-I thought that he was crazy. I mean we got food, electricity and shelter here."

"It's not safe here." Clementine said. "Carver is dangerous."

"Well, I… you know? I think you're right. After what I saw at that ski lodge, I really am regretting my decision of staying here. Vince has been talking about leaving this place too, but then we'll just end up in y'all's predicament and things will just get worse." Bonnie said.

"So, what do we do?" Clementine asked.

Bonnie placed the full magazine on the shelf and said, "We've been discussing that. Me, Vince, Wy, Russ, Shel, and Becca. We think we can escape this place now that we got the numbers to do so. And besides that, I think you and your daddy are pretty strong. We just got to show some loyalty towards Bill until he lowers his guard."

"I… I used to be able to survive… not anymore." Clementine said as she lowered her head.

Bonnie frowned and looked to the girl's legs. "So how are you holding up with this? This had to been recent." Bonnie said.

"I'm… okay. I didn't mind it too much at first. I kind of liked it, but now, it's so hard on my daddy. And I can't help him as much as I used to." Clementine said.

Bonnie looked down with a frown and said, "I hope that things get better for you."

Clementine smiled and said, "I think they will. Daddy and Carlos said that once we get to Wellington that things will become easier."

"Wellington?" Bonnie asked.

"It's a settlement up near Michigan." Clementine said.

"Is that where you and your daddy were heading before you got…?" Bonnie asked.

Clementine nodded as she continued to fill the magazine. Bonnie joined her and the room was silent again. A few seconds later, Clementine looked up to Bonnie and asked, "What is Carver going to do with Carley?"

"Wait, what happened?" Bonnie asked.

"Carley stood up for Sarah this morning, but Carver slapped her and dragged her away from us." Clementine said with a concerned frown on her face.

Bonnie froze and said, "I… I don't know. I've never seen Bill act out like this before. I just hope he won't go too crazy and kill her."

"Hey Bonnie, you there?" A voice came from Bonnie's radio. The voice sounded familiar. Clementine remembered the same voice from this morning. It was Vince's voice.

She picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Yeah, I'm here. What's up?"

"I'm at the expansion, but I gotta go check on some of the new folks. The boys over here need two boxes of nails." Vince explained from his end on the radio.

"Right. I'll come over with Clem." Bonnie said into the speaker of the walkie-talkie.

"Be careful. Troy's out guarding." Vince said. Bonnie gave a disgusted look upon hearing the guard's name.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks Vince." Bonnie said. She sighed and clipped the radio to her belt. "Well, let's go get them boys their nails." Bonnie noticed the fear in Clementine's eyes and said, "Don't worry. I'll be with you the whole time. Troy won't bother you a bit."

Clementine smiled and said, "Good. Thanks." Bonnie nodded and got up to retrieve the needed nails and placed them in a bucket.

"Alright. Let's go to the back door." Bonnie said as she ushered the girl out of the armory.

Bonnie led the way to a red door which had yellow letters on it spelling out 'EXIT.' Bonnie opened the door for Clementine and the two exited the building in time to hear a yell. They turned their heads gasped upon seeing Reggie hit the ground. He landed head first which had caused the back of his skull to bust open. Both looked on shocked by what they saw. Who would kill such an innocent man? Both looked up and were shocked to see Bill with a satisfying stare aimed at Reggie's corpse. "Oh my gosh." Bonnie whispered.

Carver looked to the two with his smirk disappearing. "I do believe that you two got something to do." Carver said from the ledge.

"Ri…Right. Sorry Bill." Bonnie said. She escorted Clementine to the door. The walkers outside of the barricade tried to knock it down, but after what Clementine just witnessed, their futile attempts to get inside almost went unnoticed. Bonnie reached the door to the expansion and said, "Listen. I gotta go tell Vince what happened. Your daddy should be in the expansion." Bonnie opened the door for Clementine and scooted her in before the door closed again.

"Ken… enough man!" Lee exclaimed. Clementine turned her head and saw Kenny pinning Mike against the wall.

"I ain't nobody's laborer." Kenny snapped. Clementine started to wheel herself over to the three men. "F*** that! Let them do this shit themselves, if it's so damn important."

"Get your hands off me!" Mike exclaimed.

"Kenny, come on man! We can't be turning on each other!" Lee exclaimed.

"I don't know about you, Lee, but I want out of here." Kenny said.

"Ken, I do too, but attacking Mike is not the solution." Lee said.

"I said get your hands off me." Mike said.

"Or what?" Kenny inquired. "Are you going to tell on me?"

"I'm trying to help you asshole." Mike said.

"Guys stop!" Clementine exclaimed. "Reggie's dead! Carver killed him!"

"What?" Kenny asked surprised by the fact that the man he had just greeted last night was dead.

Kenny released his grip on Mike and the man huffed. "Are you sure?" Mike asked. But before the girl could answer, the window behind Mike shattered and the bottom board fell loose under the walkers' weight. The walkers growled as they entered the expansion, looking around for any form of food. "Shit!" Mike exclaimed as he ran off to grab a screwdriver.

"Grab something!" Kenny exclaimed as he looked for a weapon as well. He found it in the form of a hammer and stepped back as the walkers continued to flow in.

 **Lee's POV**

Clementine gasped and she went backwards on the wheelchair. Meanwhile, Lee searched for a weapon. He found it in the form of a sledgehammer near the back of the expansion. He picked up the hammer and ran toward Clementine to defend her. He got in front of the girl and swung the hammer which immediately killed the first walker. He grunted as he killed another walker. The second walker's skull busted into pieces from the heavy swing. Lee looked up with gritted teeth to see two more walkers approaching him. He killed the next one with a quick swing before he took another swing at the last one. He dropped the sledgehammer and huffed at the sight of seeing all four walkers dead.

"Man…" Lee said. "I already miss my axe." He turned to Clementine and asked, "Sweet pea, you alright?" She had an unsure glance as she looked up to her adoptive father but she nodded.

Suddenly, the door opened to the expansion with an irritated Troy glaring at the group of four. "Alright. What the f*** happened in here?" Troy snapped. Clementine flinched upon hearing him snap. "You f****** can't do a damn thing right without me cracking the whip!" He turned to Lee and Clementine and said, "Bill wants to talk to you. Take that useless bitch with you."

Lee glared at him and said, "Don't call her that asshole!"

"I will call her whatever I want to call her!" Troy exclaimed as he approached Lee. "And if you ever call me that again, I will f****** kill you!" He aimed his assault rifle at Lee, but the older was too irritated to care about the threat. "I said to get moving… you don't think I won't kill you? How about I shoot her after I shoot you? I'll save Bill some trouble down the road."

Lee grumbled in defeat before he started to push Clementine out of the expansion. Lee grumbled under his breath as he went to the hardware store. Clementine looked back to her adoptive father and asked, "You okay, daddy?" Clementine asked.

"I'm fine." Lee said with an anger lacing his voice. "I just hate it when people treat you like that."

Clementine sighed and said, "We don't have a choice but to put up with it."

"I know… hopefully things will get better." Lee said as he opened the door to head back inside Howe's.

* * *

After getting Clementine to the yard where Sarah was. Lee headed to the office. He looked up and noticed that Carver was talking to Rebecca. Lee kept moving until he was stopped by a stocky guard. "You Lee?" The guard asked.

"Yeah, why?" Lee asked with a raised brow. He didn't know this guard.

The guard looked around to make sure that he and Lee were alone and he said, "My name is Wyatt. I'm a friend to Vince. Listen man, Bonnie told us what happened to Reggie. We're all freaking out now. We're making a plan to escape tonight. Have your friends get ready. The only way we'll get out of here is if we spring you guys. You just be ready to move… we'll handle the rest."

Lee wanted to smile at the thought of leaving the dreadful hardware store, but he had to keep his composure. "Alright… I'll tell them when I go back."

"My shift's almost over. I'm going to rendezvous with everyone and we'll head out soon." Wyatt explained.

Lee nodded before he headed for the stairs to the office. He passed a saddened Rebecca and saw Carver at the top of the stairs. "She's a strong woman surrounded by weak men. I'm not letting my child grow up around something like that. Of course, I'd say your little lady put up a good fight too."

"Where's Carley?" Lee asked. He tried to fight back as much of his anger as possible, but it still came out threatening.

Carver pulled out his revolver said, "I'll show you." He made a gesture with his revolver to enter the office. Lee obliged and immediate worry washed over him. He saw Carley on a chair. She had several bruises on her face and there were even some slash marks on her.

"Carley!" Lee exclaimed as he ran over to her. However, the markswoman was unconscious and was unable to hear Lee.

"She passed out hours ago." Carver said with a smirk forming on his lips. "No need to make a fuss out of it."

Lee grumbled as he got up. "What is wrong with you? She didn't do a thing to hurt!" Lee exclaimed.

"She got in the way. I had to teach her that there are consequences for playing hero." Carver said while he kept his revolver aimed at Lee. He gestured Lee with the use of the revolver to sit at one of the chairs. Lee had no choice but to oblige. The tyrannical leader sat at the desk a few seconds after Lee sat down in one of the chairs.

"Now, you've probably heard about our dear friend, Reggie, by now." Carver said. His sickening smile remained which made Lee even angrier with him.

"I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to intimidate me and my people." Lee said.

"On the contrary, I'm trying to whip you all into shape." Carver said. "You know, I actually liked Reggie. He was a funny guy. He kept things light. You need folks like that… it's easy to let depression sink in during times like this." Carver's smile fell and his face became very stern. "But he was weak. And I don't mean because he was maimed, that wasn't his problem. He was weak in will, weak in character. And we can't have that around. Hell, your little girl had more strength than him… and that's saying something."

"So killing him was more logical?" Lee asked.

"Sometimes it is and sometimes it's not." Carver said as he leaned back in his chair. "You see it all determines on the situation. Reggie, for example, put us at risk with his incompetence. He's had a string of screw-ups lately." Carver sat upright in his chair and said, "Killing one to save many is a part of survival. It's one of the tough decisions that a weaker person couldn't make. It's why it falls to people like us to bring them to safety."

"I'm not like you." Lee muttered.

Carver huffed and said, "You got a point there. You're nothing like me. You decided to keep a crippled in your group… She's way past her prime. Why think that she'll be able to help you in the future?"

"It's not always about choosing who survives and who doesn't. I've been doing my best to keep everyone alive, but you're determined to kill everyone." Lee said.

"You can't have weakness that will only get you killed." Carver said. "This is survival of the fittest. If you think that you can save everyone, then you're bullshitting yourself!" He stood up and glared down at Lee as he continued, "Carlos will die, Sarah will die, Sarita will die, and whether you like it or not, Clementine will die!"

"Bill, you there?" A woman's voice was heard from the radio on the desk. Carver turned to the desk and picked up the radio.

"Yeah? I'm here." Carver replied as he looked out to the hardware store from his office.

"The loading bay door is jacked." The woman replied. "Troy really knocked the shit out of it."

"How bad is it?" Carver asked.

"Rails are tweaked so it won't shut all the way." The woman explained. "The herd has gotten really close so I think Stan should take a look at."

"I'll get him on it. Out." Carver grumbled. He sounded annoyed by the new mess that Troy had made. "That f****** idiot. A herds on its way and he puts a ding in my door. Go on out back to the yard… it's almost supper time." Carver said as he contemplated over the new information. Lee got up and looked over to Carley. "Oh yeah, take your little girlfriend, too. I've had my fun with her." Carver said with a smirk.

Lee tightened his fist. He wanted to hit Carver, but Lee knew that he would be a dead man if that would happen. Lee huffed to control his anger and he went over to Carley. "Carley, Carley." Lee said as he shook the woman awake.

Carley moaned. "Wh-What's going on?" Carley asked.

"Come on, we're going back to the yard." Lee said as he helped her up and he escorted her out of the office. Carley was shown to be rather withdrawn and angry on the way to the yard. "Are you alright?" Lee asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Carley said as she hugged her arms. Lee had never seen her like this. What did that madman do to her?

They arrived at the garage door where a guard stood by. She opened up the garage door and allowed the two to enter. "…Because we all know what happened this morning! I don't know what that sonuvabitch is going to do next!" Kenny exclaimed.

Carley and Lee turned to see the group by the campfire. Somehow, even Carlos was present. Lee thought that he would be working all night. Carley walked over and sat next to Clementine as Lee took a spare seat.

"So you wanna just ring the dinner bell for a herd of walkers to show up?" Mike inquired. "How's that better?"

"Cause this place will be in f****** chaos when that thing hits." Kenny explained. "No one'll be payin attention to us. And that's when we go. That's our opening. We just got to figure out a way to draw them to us."

"Your friend here is trying to get us killed by lurkers before Bill can do it." Rebecca said to Lee.

"What is it with you?" Kenny asked.

"That's what it sounds like to me." Rebecca replied.

"You know that's not what he's saying… but it does sound dangerous." Sarita said.

"This shit is all dangerous!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Kenny!" Sarita snapped. "Do not speak to me like that!"

"Okay, okay, sorry." Kenny apologized.

"You seem to be forgetting about Luke. He'll help us." Rebecca said.

"When?" Carley inquired. "When will he help us?"

"That asshole has abandoned us. It's up to us to come up with a plan." Kenny said.

"Or maybe not." Lee said. "Vince and his group have a plan. Wyatt told me that they were planning on leaving tonight. We just have to be ready."

"Great more of Carver's people…" Kenny muttered with a distasteful stare.

"We don't have a choice, Ken." Lee said. "Who knows how long until that crazy f*** kills us all. This might be our only chance to get out of here."

Kenny looked down with a groan. "Alright. So what now?" Kenny asked.

"What now, is that I kill your asses." The group heard. The group had disgusted expression upon hearing the horrid voice. It was that maniacal guard that forced Clementine to crawl on the ground earlier that day. Somehow, Troy must have managed to slip in without the group noticing the gate being opened. He approached with his assault rifle drawn and said, "Bill sent me to kill that useless girl, but now, I think I'll just kill you all! I think Bill will be happy to know that I stopped a conspiracy this big." His evil smile grew and he looked around for his first victim.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Gotta love a cliffhanger especially since college is starting up and I won't be able to update as frequently.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Well… I'd imagine that this chapter is going to get some reviews. Basically… a lot of bad things and one good thing happens in this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"You know what? Since I was sent to kill you. I'll kill you first." Troy said with an evil smirk aimed at Clementine. The girl watched on with fear in her eyes and her upper body shook as the guard approached her with his knife drawn.

Suddenly, the gate opened up with Vince having his gun aimed at Troy. The heartless guard turned around as Vince shot him where his testicles were. "AHHHHH…! YOU SHOT ME IN THE DICK!" Troy exclaimed as he fell to the ground and wept. Vince was joined by other members including Wyatt, a young African-American man, Bonnie, a young woman, and a teenage girl. The group could hear gunshots in the distance as Vince's group approached Lee and Kenny with their supplies and weapons.

"What is this?" Kenny asked.

"A jail break." The African-American man said. He appeared to be quite young and only seemed to be in his early twenties.

"Right now, Carver and the rest of his people are dealing with the walkers on the opposite wall. That big herd that Carver was talking about is here." Vince explained. "The walkers will be too focused on the gunfire to notice us."

"I like the sounds of that." Lee said as he placed his backpack on.

"You f****** assholes…" Troy muttered as he seethed in pain. Lee shook his head in disappointment.

"You want to finish him off?" Vince asked.

There were a few seconds of delay until Lee said, "No… all I care about is getting my little girl and girlfriend out of here." Lee did have a huge hatred toward Troy for abusing Clementine, but he was not going to assassinate him, not with Clementine in sight.

"Might as well let him suffer. Serves him right for being an asshole to everyone." Carley spat.

"I say we ought to make sure he doesn't get back up." Wyatt said.

"I agree." Kenny said.

"Very well. I hated this f*****. I might as well do the honors." Vince said as he drew his knife and stabbed Troy in the chest. Troy released a pained scream as Vince dragged the knife across his chest. Blood spirted out of his mouth as he did so. Vince pulled the blade out and asked, "Will he be able to recover from that."

"Not a chance." Carlos said as he looked down with an unsympathetic glance aimed at the heartless guard. "He'll die in a few minutes."

"Good… one less asshole to worry about." The African-American man said.

"If we get separated out there, we'll meet up at Parker's Run." Carlos announced to the group. "More than likely, Luke will be there waiting for us."

"I know of it." Lee said. "It's a Civil War site not far from here."

"Yeah, there's signs all over the place for it. It's pretty easy to find." Mike said.

"Sounds good. Come on. We better hurry." Bonnie said. The group nodded and they proceeded to the gate.

They left the dying heartless guard inside and proceeded to the loading bay garage door which would lead outside to freedom. Lee pushed Clementine as fast as he could with the group trailing slightly behind him until they finally arrived at the door.

Vince bent down and took a key out to unlock the lock on the garage door. He threw the lock aside and lifted the gate. "Alright, freedom." Vince said. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and hit Vince. He fell down on the other side with a gaping hole to the back of his head.

"Vince!" Wyatt and the African-American man exclaimed. The rest of the group was shocked upon seeing the Asian man getting shot.

"You're not leaving." The African-American woman was heard. It was the same guard that greeted the group upon arrival. She was accompanied by several other guards.

"What the f***, Tavia?" The African-American man said.

"You f****** bitch. I will kill you! I knew we couldn't trust her!" The teenager exclaimed. She rushed at the woman, but the young woman in Vince's group held her back.

"Becca, no." The young woman said as the teenager thrashed in her grip.

Tavia held her gun up and said, "Unless the rest of you want to end up like Vince then I suggest that you lower your weapons and head back to the pin. Good thing Bill knew that y'all were going to escape."

"What are you talking about? How could he have known?" The African-American man asked.

"Simple." Tavia replied. "Bill sent Troy out into the yard to make Vince and the rest of you to go into action. It was all a trap. He had you figured out."

Lee growled in distaste. He couldn't believe it. Carver knew what Vince and his group were planning to do. He sent Troy as the bait, and they fell for it.

"Weapons down now." Tavia said as she aimed at the group members.

"F*** that." The African-American man said. He drew his handgun and shot Tavia; however, the shot only grazed her. The group went for cover as the other guards open fired. Lee was able to bring Clementine behind a pillar but now they were forced into a corner. The group had split into two halves as the guards continued to fire.

"We need to get out of here." Bonnie said.

"Any plans, guys?" Kenny asked.

Wyatt looked down with a frown and said, "I got one… but it means a couple of us will have to stay."

Lee looked on with a frown and asked, "Is there another way?" Wyatt shook his head in response. Lee sighed and said, "Ken and I are the oldest. We'll stay."

"No, please daddy, don't." Clementine pleaded.

Wyatt looked to Lee and said, "You gotta go. You both got loved ones depending on you. I wish there was another way, but there isn't. Russ and I will stay behind and provide cover fire. The rest of you get out of here."

Wyatt looked over and gave a gesture to the African-American man. He nodded and both men got up and started firing at the guards. Lee had Clementine in his arms and he quickly ran for the door. Kenny, Carley, Carlos, Sarita, Rebecca, and Sarah followed behind him. On the other side, Jane, Mike, Bonnie, Becca, and the young woman ran out from behind the pillar to make their escape as well.

They reached outside and were surprised to see that the herd was approaching them. "Okay. This is not good." Mike muttered. They were stuck between the guards and the walkers.

"We have to kill a couple of them and rub the walker guts on us." Clementine explained. She was in Lee's arms and her folded up wheelchair was being carried by Kenny.

"What is she talking about?" Becca asked.

"Yeah, that's nuts." Mike said.

"No, it's true. I was able to go through a herd untouched with her because we were covered by walker entrails." Lee explained. "Here, take her." Lee handed the eleven year old to Carley. He set his sights on a nearby walker and killed it with his axe.

"They're right. I do it all the time too." Jane said. Some of the group members ran over to kill some of the walkers as well. After Lee covered himself, he adjusted his focus to Carley who approached with Clementine.

"I really hope you're right about this." Carley said as she placed Clementine on the ground. Lee started to cover Clementine as Carley covered herself.

Clementine groaned in disgust and she said, "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do this again."

"It'll be okay honey. You'll be with me the whole time." Lee said as he continued to cover the girl.

Lee and Carley finished covering each other in the walker guts as the rest of the group also finished. Lee picked up Clementine and looked up in time to see the herd. He tried to fight through the herd but it was too strong in numbers. He looked around and noticed that he lost sight of Carley along with everyone in his group.

"Shit…" Lee muttered. He didn't know where they were, but he had no choice but to move on. He couldn't go looking for them in the herd. If he tried to, he would put himself and Clementine at risk. He continued through the herd until he bumped into the young woman in Vince's group. "You're part of Vince's group." Lee said

"That's right. I'm Shel." The young woman said.

"Just our luck. We get stuck with the crippled." Becca hissed.

"Becca..." Shel said in a scolding tone, but the girl ignored her.

"We have to stick together. It's the only way to survive." Lee said. However, Becca ignored the man and went further into the herd.

"Don't mind her. Let's just find a way out of here." Shel said. She went to follow the younger with Lee behind her, but Becca was going at too fast of a pace. "Becca wait up." Shel said.

Becca turned with a scowl forming on her face. "We are not letting them come with us." Becca hissed. "Look at her." Becca made a gesture to Clementine and continued, "She can't do a thing for us. All she'll do is slow us down."

"Look, just let me handle it. I've done so all the way up to this point." Lee said to the girl. The girl shook her head in response and grumbled under her breath.

Shel sighed in distaste to Becca's attitude and said, "Come on. Let's just get to Parker's Run. I just hope some of the others made it."

"And what about Vince?" Becca snapped.

"Look Becca, I know that you looked up to Vince, but it's not Clementine's fault for what happened to him." Shel said.

"The hell it isn't." Becca said.

"Becca will you-AHHH!" Shel was suddenly attacked by a nearby walker. The walker had bitten down on her shoulder.

"Shel!" Becca exclaimed. Lee was astonished by how ferocious the walker attack was. Shel cried out in pain as another walker turned its attention to her and bit down on her neck. The two walkers went into a complete frenzy on the poor woman as the three watched on in horror. "SHEL!" Becca cried out. She started to whimper as Lee looked around. Walkers were starting to take notice of them.

"Becca… Becca, you have to be quiet." Lee said. He turned and saw the girl dart for the nearby woods. "Becca…" Lee said but it was too late. He couldn't see Becca anymore. He heard whimpering from Clementine. "Sh… it's okay, honey. You're okay." Lee said as he rocked the girl in his arms. He looked around and easily found an opening. He ran for the opening and into the nearby woods. He looked back hoping to find someone within his group. He did, but he was reluctant in having her with him. It was Rebecca. She was afraid and she looked to him for help.

Lee sighed and looked around the herd for another opening. The herd's numbers were thinning out since most of the walkers were concentrated on getting inside Howe's. After a couple of moments, there was a big enough gap for her to come through. Lee gestured her to move. The woman hesitated at first, but she had no choice. She ran over to join Lee and Clementine. "Come on. Let's get to Parker's Run." Lee said. He proceeded into the forest with Rebecca close behind.

* * *

It was morning as the three continued on their trek through the forest. They were able to find a nearby stream and they had managed to wash some of the walker's blood and entrails off. Lee looked down to his adopted daughter and smiled to see her asleep. She must have been exhausted since she didn't have any sleep last night. Thanks to being half walker, Lee was able to go a few more hours without sleep.

"Hey Lee." Lee turned to Rebecca who seemed to be exhausted. "Thanks for helping me back there. I know that we haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but I think you saved my life." Rebecca said.

"No problem." Lee said. "We have to find the others."

"Yeah, we do. I really hope Luke is okay. I know that you and he don't see eye-to-eye anymore, but he is a good kid. He just gets scared when the people he cares for are in danger." Rebecca said.

"I still wouldn't trust him." Lee said.

"Yeah, I get that. I keep wondering why any of us should trust you." Rebecca said with a glare. "You hid the fact that you were bit from us."

"And you hid Carver from me. The way I see it, my secret was less destructive and less devastating than what yours was." Lee said.

Rebecca shuttered from the older man's words. He was right. His bite only made him slightly stronger and more durable than any normal human. Her secret with Carver caused much more mayhem and put everyone's lives upside down. "I'm sorry, okay?" Rebecca said. "I just… I don't like it when people hide stuff from me. And I definitely don't like it when people threaten me."

"I wouldn't have threatened you if you hadn't threatened to kill my girl. You treated me and her like absolute shit back at that cabin." Lee said.

"I know and I apologized, but you didn't accept it." Rebecca said.

"You threatened to kill my little girl. How would you feel if someone did that to your child?" Lee snapped.

Rebecca shuttered, and she lost her glare. She placed her hands on her stomach where her unborn child was. She looked up with a frown and said, "I'm sorry." Rebecca said. "I really am this time. I never really thought about it like that."

Lee huffed as he finally received a sincere apology from Rebecca. "I forgive you. Now please, stop having this desire to kill my little girl." Lee said.

"I will." Rebecca said as she lowered her head out of shame.

After passing by a bit of brush, the three came to a clearing where a destroyed monument stood with a statue of a soldier picking up and carrying another soldier in the center. In the distance stood Bonnie, Mike, Carley, and Luke talking amongst themselves. Lee and Rebecca approached the monument while Lee shook Clementine awake. "Clem, honey, wake up." Lee said.

Clementine groaned as she woke in her adoptive father's arms. "It's too early daddy. I want to sleep a little more."

Lee chuckled and said, "We're at Parker's Run, honey. Don't you want to see Carley, Kenny, Carlos, and Sarah?" The girl nodded and a smile formed on her lips. "Well, then you need to wake up." Lee said as he looked up.

"I'm going crazy just sitting here doing nothing." Mike said as Lee and Rebecca approached the four group members. Next to the arguing four was a small portion of a wall that has long since been destroyed by the Civil War and the elements.

"I understand, but we all agreed to regroup here if we got separated." Bonnie said.

"Some of us did, anyway." Carley said as she shot a glare at Luke.

"How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry?" Luke inquired. "Look, I tried to help you guys out, alright. But it was too risky, and with the walkers comin, I couldn't do a thing."

"Well, holy shit." Mike said as he spotted the three survivors approaching them.

Bonnie looked over to see the Rebecca, Lee, and Clementine and said, "Thank goodness, you're all okay. We were getting worried."

Carley walked up to Lee and hugged him and Clementine. "I'm so glad you're okay. When I got separated from you two, I was afraid…" Carley said but she trailed off.

"It's alright, Car. I'm fine now." Lee said. Carley released him from her hug with a grateful smile aimed at him. She took Clementine in her arms so that Lee could rest his. "Thanks." Lee said as his arms went down to his side.

"No problem." Carley said. She looked down to Clementine with a smile and said, "It's a good thing you're so light, sweetie."

Clementine smiled back, but not for long. She noticed Luke glaring at her which made her look down with a frown. "Bonnie and Mike told me what happened to Alvin and Nick." Luke said as he kept his eyes on Clementine.

"Luke, no." Rebecca said. "Bill killed Alvin and Nick."

"And why would Bill do that?" Luke asked. His scowl deepened as each second ticked by. "I understand why Bill would kill Alvin, but there was no reason for Bill to kill Nick."

"Nick stood up for Clem. If there's anyone to blame here, it's Carver. He's the one who killed Nick." Lee said as he built up a scowl of his own.

"This is not Clementine's fault." Carley said.

"Really? Because Bill wouldn't have killed Nick unless there was a reason." Luke said.

"Come on, Luke. Give her a break. If anything, you should blame me." Bonnie said.

Luke lost his scowl and looked to Bonnie with a perplexed stare. "What are you talking about? You didn't do anything wrong." Luke said.

"Yes, I did. I found y'all staying at the lodge." Bonnie said as she looked down with a guilty stare. "I led Bill right to you."

Luke looked down with a frown and huffed. "Alright. I'll ease up… for now." He looked to Lee and Clementine with a scowl before he walked off.

Carlos and Sarah approached Lee, Clementine, Carley, Rebecca, Bonnie, and Mike as Luke left. Carlos had an apologetic stare. "I hope Luke didn't give you too much trouble." Carlos said. "I talked to him about what you told me… He has good intentions, but that doesn't excuse him for wanting a child dead."

"He's not the only one." Lee said which shocked group. "Jane also wants Clementine dead."

Carlos frowned and said, "We'll have to keep an eye on her. Keep the children away from her. They don't need to be exposed to someone like her."

Clementine looked down with a frown and sighed. "Why does everyone want me to die for? I never hated anyone enough to the point where I'd want to kill them." Clementine said.

"It's a bad world out here sweat pea. Some of the nicest people on Earth can become absolute monsters out here." Lee said.

Clementine looked down even more saddened by her adoptive father's words. "I… understand." Clementine said.

Sarah approached the girl in Carley's arms and said, "Cheer up, Clem. We got a new playmate, here."

Clementine perked up when she heard Sarah and her frown turned into a smile. "A new playmate?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah… it's a boy, but he seems pretty nice. I think you two will like each other." Sarah said. "He's with Sarita and Kenny right now." Sarah said as she gestured to the couple and a young boy who appeared to be twelve. He had shaggy brown hair. Additionally, he wore a green hooded sweatshirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of black shoes. Lee smirked upon seeing how happy Kenny looked. Lee hadn't seen him that happy since Duck was alive. He also noticed that Clementine's wheelchair was next to Kenny.

Sarah and Carley proceeded over toward the three. Rebecca also walked over to sit down. She was in the late stages of her pregnancy, and it was starting to take its toll. "So what's that boy's name?" Lee asked.

"Keith Weaver." Carlos said. "Luke found him on the way to Carver's. The boy was pinned down by several walkers."

"So we're mostly all here." Bonnie said. "All we got to do is wait for Shel and Becca. And perhaps… maybe Wyatt and Russell managed to get out of there. I don't know how, but… who knows."

"Shel isn't coming…" Lee said with a frown.

"What?" Bonnie asked. Mike and Carlos were also stunned by what Lee said.

"She got attacked. Becca ran off after Shel got devoured." Lee said. He may not have liked Becca's attitude toward Clementine, but that didn't mean he didn't care about her. She was still just a child.

"Oh my…" Bonnie said. She trailed off as her eyes started to tear up. She shook her head and said, "We're going to go find her. Do you know where she darted for?"

"No, there were too many walkers to know for sure." Lee said.

"Damn…" Bonnie muttered. She looked to Mike and said, "Come on. You said you were anxious to find some folks out here, right?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Mike said. The two walked off into the forest in a desperate attempt to find Becca.

Lee looked over to the rest of the group. He noticed that Luke and Jane were talking. Both looked to Lee with glares. However, Kenny, Sarita, Clementine, Carley, Sarah, Keith, and Rebecca seemed to have a friendlier atmosphere. Lee walked over to the seven along with Carlos.

They looked up to Lee and Carlos as the two approached the group. "So what happened to Bonnie and Mike?" Kenny asked.

"They went searching for Becca." Carlos said. "They'll be back in a bit."

"Sounds good enough to me. We're going to have to find someplace safe for Rebecca's baby." Kenny said as he looked over to the soon-to-be mother.

"There should be a museum nearby… it's a long shot, but there might be some supplies in there." Lee said.

Kenny smirked and asked, "Are you sure you're not going there out of your own pleasure?" All eyes turned to Lee who only smirked.

"There are a couple of exhibits that I want to look at." Lee said.

Kenny rolled his eyes and said, "We'll send Mike and Bonnie with you to keep you on task."

"That might be for the best." Clementine said with a smirk.

"What? I can't have any fun?" Lee asked.

"Nope." Clementine and Carley said simultaneously.

Kenny chuckled and said, "Alright, Carlos, Sarita, and I will stay here and watch the kids and help Rebecca."

"Do you have any experience with pregnancies?" Carlos asked.

Kenny sighed and he looked down with a frown. "Yeah… yeah, I got experience. I helped my wife bring my boy into this world."

Sarita gasped upon hearing Kenny admit his past. He looked to her as she said, "You… you were a father and husband?"

"That's right…" Kenny said with a frown. "I lost both of them about two years ago."

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Kenny. I... Why didn't you tell me?" Sarita said as she placed a comforting hand on the older man's shoulder.

"I didn't want to tell you. I've been haunted by their deaths… I could have been a better father, a better husband… I'd do anything to just have one last chance to be with them." Kenny said.

Sarita smiled to the older man and said, "You have that chance now with me. I may not be your wife and I don't think I could ever replace her, but I'm here for you."

"We all are Ken. We're all family in this." Lee said.

Kenny looked up to the surrounding group members and said, "Thank you."

Lee nodded to his best friend with a smirk before his eyes landed on the boy between Kenny and Sarita. He seemed almost comfortable being between the two. "Hi there. My name's Lee." Lee said to the boy.

"Hi, I'm Keith." Keith said as he extended his hand out to shake Lee's. Lee chuckled as he shook the boy's hand.

"So, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, Keith?" Sarita said to the boy.

"Okay, well… I came from Colombia, South Carolina. I was raised in the countryside by my mom, grandma, and grandpa." Keith explained.

"What about your dad?" Kenny asked.

"I never really had one." Keith said.

"Hmm… that's a shame." Lee said.

"Mom said that I would be happier without my dad, and it really didn't affect me that much. I am curious what he's like, but I was happy to just have mom, grandma, and grandpa." Keith said. "Anyway, when the walkers came, my mom, grandma, grandpa, and I tried to make it, but I'm the only survivor." The boy lowered his head with a frown forming on it. "Part of me is happy that they aren't hurting anymore and are with God, but I'm also sad. I really miss my mom." Sarita placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulders.

"It's okay, sweetie." Sarita said to the boy. However, Keith was still discouraged from recalling the events of his life.

"We've all lost people that we care about." Lee said with a saddened tone in his voice.

"Be-Before she died, my mom told me that my dad might still be alive. She said to go find him, but all I got was where she met him and his name." Keith said.

"What's his name?" Kenny asked.

Keith looked up to the older man and said, "William Carver." The group gasped upon hearing the name. They were speechless when they heard the information.

"Wi-William Carver? Are you sure?" Lee asked.

"That's what mom told me. She said that I needed to head to Tennessee." Keith said.

"That's… wow." Kenny said. He was very surprised to learn that the kind Christian boy had such a ruthless father. "I guess the apple does fall far from the tree at times."

Keith looked to Kenny and asked, "What do you mean? Why are all of you so surprised? Did you actually meet my dad?"

"Um… well… yes. Your father owned a community that's not far from here. We were lucky to escape. He and his people killed several members of our group. They were all good people." Carlos explained with a saddened look on his face.

Keith lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry. I heard that my dad was ruthless from some bandits that I was spying on, but I never would have thought that it was this bad."

"It's alright, Keith. It's not like you can choose who you're related to." Kenny said.

"He's right. Don't let it affect you." Carley said which got the boy's attention. Keith looked up to Carley and gave her an appreciative smile.

"Still, you might not want to tell the others. It's hard to tell how Luke will react. Jane seems too angry and destructive. I don't know Mike well enough. And Bonnie… I'm not sure how we can trust her since she brought Bill to our front door step when we were at the lodge." Carlos said.

"Yeah, let's just keep this between us." Lee said. He knew that Carlos was right. At the moment Luke and Jane were very distrustful and he didn't want the boy to be put in danger.

Kenny suddenly stood up and looked out into the forest. "What is it?" Lee asked.

"I… I… think they're back." Kenny said.

"Good." Rebecca muttered in pain. "I think the baby is coming soon."

Kenny and Lee walked over to the front of the Civil War site to be greeted by a distraught Mike and a saddened Bonnie. "Wh-What happened? Where's Becca?" Lee asked.

Bonnie huffed out a tearful breath and said, "We… We couldn't save her." Both men were shocked upon hearing the information.

"We found Becca on the road… half of her face was chewed off. All we could do was put her out of her misery." Mike explained.

"Damn…" Kenny muttered.

Suddenly, Rebecca screamed out. The group ran over to see her standing upright with Carlos standing by. "It's alright. Just keep breathing in and out." Carlos said.

"Wh-What happened?" Luke asked as he and Jane ran over to join the group.

"Rebecca's water broke. The baby's coming soon." Carley said.

"Soon? Like how soon?" Luke asked.

"Very, very soon." Carlos said as he turned to the young man. "We don't have much time."

"Okay, so what should do?" Luke asked.

"Lee, Mike, and Bonnie are going to go the nearby museum and try to find some supplies for us." Kenny said.

"I noticed on the map that there's an observation deck nearby. I'll head that way." Carley said.

"I'll come with you." Jane muttered.

Carley was conflicted on having Jane come with her, but she knew that it would be better if the young woman went with her than to stay here where she could harm Clementine. "Okay." Carley said with a nod.

Carlos looked to Lee and said, "Lee, we got blankets, but we need water to clean the baby when he or she is born. See if you can find some clean water at the museum."

"You got it." Lee said. He turned to Mike and Bonnie and said, "Come on you two. I think I know where the museum is." Lee said.

"Lead the way." Mike said. Lee nodded and headed for the forest with Mike and Bonnie following close behind. Meanwhile, Carley and Jane headed for the observation deck.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: This is a good point to cut it off. So we're going to be in Lee's and Carley's perspective in the next segment. And man… all of the 400 Days characters… gone like that… man I never knew that I could be so brutal. Anyway… a little information about Keith Weaver. He's basically the same person as Keith Carver, except with a different past. I'll be putting in a description of him on my profile.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

 **Lee, Bonnie, and Mike**

Lee led the way to the museum with Bonnie and Mike trailing behind. In the back of his mind, Lee was nervous in leaving Clementine with Luke. He wasn't sure what the young man would do to her, but he was somewhat relieved to have Kenny and Sarita around to look after her. He knew that they would never let anything happen to her. Lee broke out of his thoughts as he, Bonnie, and Mike approached the museum. He knew it was the museum. The building was quite large and he saw several tombstones in front of it.

"Is that it?" Mike asked as Lee looked over the building. It was a mess. The building's glass entrance was completely shattered and there was plenty of debris in front and inside of the building. Additionally, there were two walkers aimlessly limping in front of the museum causing another hazard for the group.

Lee sighed with a frown forming on his lips. "Yeah… that's it." The condition of the building saddened him. He knew the history of Parker's Run. The museum was a memento of the struggle that occurred one hundred fifty years ago, and it was a part of history. But here it was, destroyed and ransacked like it was nothing.

"You okay?" Bonnie asked.

Lee shook his head and said, "This was a part of history. It deserves better than to rot here."

"I know what you mean." Mike said. "I feel bad going in there and having to loot it, but if we don't get clean water, Rebecca's child is done for."

"Mike's right." Bonnie said. "It is unfortunate, but we gotta do this."

Lee nodded and said, "Alright. Let's get a move on." Lee said as he moved forward. He raised his axe as he approached the first walker. The creature growled in response and held its arms out to attack him, but Lee killed it with one swing to its skull. The other walker growled at Lee and proceeded toward him. Lee retrieved his axe from the walker's skull and swung again to kill the second walker. The axe was embedded into the other walker's skull. It required a couple of yanks, but he managed to pull the axe out of the walker's skull.

"Nice job, Lee." Bonnie said as she and Mike approached the older man.

"Thanks." Lee said. He looked inside and noticed that some of the exhibits were intact. "See if you two can find some water. I'm going to look at some of the attractions." Before either could protest, Lee made his way inside and started looking through some of the main exhibits. He felt like a kid in a candy store especially with everything going on in his life. For the last couple of years, he had to deal with walkers and sociopaths.

"Hey Lee." Bonnie said as she approached him.

"Hey what's up?" Lee asked.

"It's just that I never really apologized for what happened. By now, I'm sure you know that I deceived Walter into helping me." Bonnie said.

"It's fine. I don't think you're the enemy. You helped us escape so that makes you okay in my books." Lee said.

"Thanks… do you think the other have forgiven me yet?" Bonnie asked.

"I really don't know." Lee said. "Kenny always holds a grudge so it might be a while till he comes around. I don't know Sarita well enough to tell you, but she seems like a nice person. I'm sure she has forgiven you. Carley's been… kind of isolated recently, but I think she forgives you. Clem has probably forgiven you by now. I had a hand in raising her. I taught her to not hold a grudge."

Bonnie smiled and said, "You do a wonderful job as her father. I can tell she looks up to you." She suddenly became saddened and said, "I've never seen Luke like that before. All of that back there… it's like he was hiding it all from us."

"I'm just as shocked as you are." Lee said. "When I first showed up at the cabin, Luke seemed to be one of the few people who understood my position."

"I wonder what made him change." Bonnie asked.

"Probably Carver. Everyone in the group acted out when Carver came to pay us a visit." Lee said.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Bonnie said. "I can't believe I thought I could make that place work. I guess I was foolin myself."

"By the way, your friends seemed to know who Tavia was." Lee said.

"Yeah. She was the one who found us." Bonnie explained. "She said that Howe's was safe and that it was a paradise in all of this madness. She gave us her word that everything would work out. If I knew what I know now, I would have never gone with her."

"I'm sorry, Bonnie. Your people were different, but I think it's because of those differences is what made you and your people strong." Lee said.

"Thanks Lee." Bonnie said. "I'll do my best to fit in with y'all, but it just doesn't feel the same without my group."

"Hey guys." Mike said. Lee and Bonnie looked over to the lean man and approached him. He was standing in front of the information booth within the museum. The shutter door was opened partially. "Guess what I found." Mike said with a confident smile on his face. Lee crouched down and saw two jugs of water inside.

"Nice find." Lee said as he stood upright.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked. She crouched down to take a peek inside as well. She stood upright and said, "That's exactly what we need. Good work, Mike." Bonnie said. She went for the door and tried to turn the door knob, but it didn't turn completely. The door was locked. Bonnie looked up to the two men and said, "Well boys, looks like there's only one way in."

"I don't like this." Mike said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Kicking that door open will be pretty loud. Walkers nearby will hear it."

"I don't like it either, but we got no choice." Lee said. "We need that water." He approached the door with his axe in hand. With one grunt and strong kick, Lee kicked the door open. The breaking of the door made a loud crash which alerted a walker on the floor. It growled at Lee and got up. However, Lee acted quickly and hacked at the walker's skull with his axe. After killing the walker, Lee withdrew the axe from the creature's skull and looked to his two allies.

"Nice work, Lee." Bonnie said.

"Yeah, let's get this water back to the others." Mike said.

"Agreed." Lee said. He headed inside and picked up one of the jugs as Mike picked up the other. The two proceeded out of the information booth and joined Bonnie at the entrance of the museum. The three exited the museum with the clean bottled water. Lee looked around and noticed that there weren't any walkers nearby. He breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing they needed were more walkers.

 **Carley and Jane**

Carley and Jane made their way out of the labyrinth-like structure and approached the observation deck. Jane was rather quiet but she kept looking to Carley with a questionable stare. "I don't get it." Jane said. "What do you see in Lee or Clementine for that matter?"

"I owe Lee my life." Carley said with a saddened look. She thought back to the time when she was in the pharmacy with Lee, Clementine… and Doug. He saved her life too. If only she could have repaid him. "And Clementine… I took her for granted. I never realized how much of a light she was in this world until… until I got separated from the group."

"We don't need them. Look, I get that you had a connection with Lee and Clementine and you probably still do, but if you don't let them go, they'll just bring you down with them. I've seen it before." Jane said with a saddened look on her face.

"Look, we're doing fine. Clem and Lee are still alive." Carley said.

"Yeah and at what cost? All of Bonnie's friends are dead now thanks to her!" Jane exclaimed.

"That was not Clem. Tavia killed Vince, Wyatt, and Russell. The walkers got Shel and Becca." Carley said.

"How much are you going to defend her? When are you going to see that Clementine is a threat to us?" Jane inquired.

"What is with you?" Carley inquired. "You're talking about killing an eleven year old."

"No, that's not all." Jane said. She huffed before she continued. "I'm just trying to help you see that in this world… people like Clementine and Sarah don't make it. Innocence doesn't last in this world."

Carley looked down and crossed her arms over her chest. "What about Rebecca's infant?" Carley asked.

"Frankly, I don't care. She'll probably have a stillborn, and we'll move on." Jane said with a cold tone in her voice. The two women were at the base of the stairs with Carley having a shocked expression on her face.

"How can you say that?" Carley asked. "That baby is all that Rebecca has left of her husband."

"Like I said, I really don't care." Jane said.

"Then why are you helping us?" Carley asked.

"I'm just showing you guys what you need to know to survive." Jane said. "People who are liabilities like Clementine and Rebecca's baby are not needed. They'll only be a hazard for the group. People who are inactive like Sarah need to be taught to survive. And people who are unstable like Lee need to be killed. In the end, I'm just trying to help you."

"Well, I don't want your help." Carley said with an intimidating stare aimed at Jane.

"Then you will die." Jane said. "Anyone who can't live by the simple rules out here will die. I've seen it happen too many time."

"I'd rather die than to see any of us become like you." Carley said with a cold tone before she made her way to the stairs of the observation deck.

"Hey." Jane said as she grabbed Carley's arm. "I'm not trying to sound mean. I'm just telling you what I've seen out here."

Carley ignored the words from the loner and shook her arm free from Jane's grip. She stomped up the stairs while grumbling under her breath. She couldn't believe how heartless the loner was. She walked over to the edge of the observation deck that looked out into the river. The rushing water was almost soothing. After having to deal with all the mayhem over the past couple of days, a few minutes looking out into the water was something she needed.

Carley placed her hands on her waist as she thought back to being tortured by Carver. Since that happened, she couldn't stop thinking about how strange she felt. It was the same feeling that she encountered so long ago at the age of twenty. She remembered that day vividly… the day that man…

A tear formed in her eyes as she recalled the events that occurred a few months later… after that man and the party… she had a miscarriage. And now… was it possible that she could become pregnant again… but now with Carver's child? She knew what he did to her. It all happened in a painful blur, but she remembered what happened in that office before she passed out. Her whole world stopped. If she was pregnant and if the baby came out healthy, how would she take care of it since Clementine needed as much attention as possible now? And how would Lee react? Would he be willing to accept the child despite it being half Carver?

The questions that ran through her mind consumed her. Carley had no idea what was happening around her until she heard a new voice. It was foreign and she didn't understand anything. However, she did tense up upon feeling the barrel of a gun being against her back. The voice sounded rather young. It had to be a boy in his late teens.

"Wh-What do you want?" Carley asked.

"I want you to give me everything you have." The boy demanded.

Carley sighed and she took off her backpack and gave the boy her gun. He backed up slightly and allowed her the room she needed to take off her backpack. Carley now had a good look at the boy. He seemed to be an average seventeen year old apart from wearing a cracked pair of glasses and a metal leg brace. Carley handed her supplies to the boy who smirked and kept his gun aimed at her.

"Good. Now, I not kill you. You follow me, you die." The boy said before he turned around and started to limp away.

Carley was perplexed on how the boy was able to get her. Wasn't Jane with her? She looked around and scowled upon seeing Jane talking to Luke. "You have got to be kidding me." Carley muttered. She huffed and started to walk toward the stairs of the observation deck.

She walked over to head back to Parker's Run until Jane said, "Hey where do you think you're going? We need to scout this place out."

"What happened to your stuff?" Luke asked.

"Some boy robbed me. I thought you had my back." Carley said with a scowl aimed at Jane.

Jane also had a glare and said, "I thought you did too. I guess we're both disappointed with each other."

"F*** you, bitch." Carley spat before she stormed off. She couldn't stand the loner's selfish ways. Not now.

As Carley left she could hear Luke ask, "What's wrong with her?" It took quite a bit of patience from Carley to not turn around and give the young man a piece of her mind. She was sick of it. She was sick of Jane and Luke wanting to kill Clementine and trying to make either her or Lee kill the innocent eleven year old.

Carley navigated her way back to Parker's Run and was delighted to see Sarah, Clementine, and Keith talking to one another. She smiled until she heard footsteps from behind. She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and she leaned back into the embrace. She knew who it was. It was Lee.

"How are you holding up, Car?" Lee asked.

Carley hesitated. She didn't know if she should tell Lee about what happened. She was about to speak up but she was cut off by Rebecca's screams.

 **Lee's POV**

Lee released Carley from his grip and looked over to see Rebecca shouting in pain. He and Carley ran over to check on the woman who was holding Carlos's hand. Carlos showed pain in his features as Rebecca started to huff. He turned to the adults and said, "We're out of time. The baby is coming now." He looked to Carley and asked, "We're you able to find shelter on the observation deck?"

"I… I don't know." Carley admitted.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Carlos exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. I just… some boy robbed me while holding me at gunpoint. After that, I just wanted to get out of there." Carley said.

Carlos sighed and he looked to Lee. "How does the museum look? Is it defendable?" Carlos asked.

Lee shook his head and said, "The museum would be a deathtrap."

"He's right. There isn't much to work with over there." Bonnie said.

"Oh shit!" Kenny exclaimed. "Lee, we got company!"

The group looked over to see a heard of walkers heading for them. There must have been at least a hundred. "I thought that shitbird was on watch!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Who? Luke?" Carley asked.

"He must have gotten overran." Carlos said with a frown on his face.

"Actually, Luke's with Jane right now." Carley said.

"What? Of all the useless-!" Kenny barked but he was interrupted by Lee.

"We don't have time. We need to get out of here. I think that observation deck might be our best option." Lee said.

"Alright, Lee and I will fight some of the walkers so that the rest of you can get Rebecca to the observation deck." Kenny said. He looked to Lee for confirmation which the man replied with a nod. Lee pulled out his axe as Kenny walked over to pick up a tire iron. The two men proceeded toward the walkers as the rest of the group got ready to move.

"You never told me how you got out of that herd in Savannah." Lee said.

"That's because I got lucky. I don't know how or why, but I got through that herd without even being nibbled on." Kenny said. A smile formed on his lips as they neared the herd and said, "It's been a while since we've fought walkers."

Lee nodded as he swung his axe at an approaching walker. The walker was killed with ease and Lee readied himself for another swing. He swung at another walker and pulled his axe out of its concaved skull. He looked over to see Kenny beating a walker with the tire iron, but he didn't notice the walker that was limping toward him. It was getting too close to the bearded man. "Kenny!" Lee exclaimed as he ran over to help his friend.

Kenny looked up to the walker and grunted as he swung the tire iron at the walker. Kenny huffed and placed his hands on his knees as the walker fell to the ground with the tire iron stuck in its skull.

Lee joined Kenny and looked around to see several walkers closing in on him and his friend. "Come on, Ken. We got to go." Lee said. He looked back to Kenny to see him standing upright. Kenny nodded to Lee and the two men ran back to the Civil War site to catch up with the others.

Lee and Kenny huffed as they ran to catch up with the group. Kenny joined Sarita and Keith while Lee joined Carley and Clementine. Sarah stayed with the adults and was looking in all directions with a look of horror on her face. Mike was carrying the jugs that he and Lee got from the museum. Finally, Carlos was helping Rebecca to walk, but it was clear that she was in immense pain from her deep huffs and contorted features. Meanwhile, the walkers were getting closer. They made their slow, limping approach from the forest and Civil War site.

* * *

Finally, the group made it to the stairs of the observation deck. Lee picked up Clementine and headed up the stair followed by Carley who was carrying the girl's wheelchair. The two adults searched for Luke and Jane once they reached the top of the observation deck. However, they didn't have to look for long.

"…That's about as human as I have felt in a long time." Lee heard Luke say. He looked over to see the two young adults sitting next to one another.

A scowl formed on his face, but before he could say a word, Carley shouted, "What the hell?"

"Whoa… shit. Look it… it ain't what it looks like." Luke said with a guilty look on his face.

"You… you two! What is wrong with you? We got who-knows-how-many-walkers chasing us and all you two care about is f****** one another!" Carley exclaimed.

"Sw-" Clementine said, but Lee interrupted her.

"Not now sweetheart. Not when Carley's this upset." Lee said to the girl with a kind tone to his voice.

"Wait hold on. What's going on?" Luke asked as he got up. Jane also got up in time for Carlos and Rebecca to enter the gift shop that Luke and Jane were in.

"What the f*** is going on here?" Kenny exclaimed. His face was starting to get as red as Carley's.

"Look, will someone please just tell me what's going on here?" Luke asked.

"Rebecca's having her baby." Clementine said.

"Wait… now?" Luke asked as he turned his head to the mother-to-be. In response, Rebecca cried out in pain and she gripped her stomach. "F***. I'm sorry." Luke said.

"Shit… holy shit." Rebecca huffed in pain.

"Easy… easy now." Carlos said as he helped Rebecca to lay down on the floor. Sarita joined Carlos and allowed the soon-to-be mother to grip her hand.

"Keith, I need you to stay with Clementine and Sarah. Come and get me if Carlos and Sarita need help. Got it?" Kenny said to the boy who was next to Sarah.

"Yes sir, I got it." Keith said.

"Good. The rest of us will keep that herd busy." Kenny said as he stepped outside of the gift shop with his handgun at the ready. He was joined by Mike, Jane, and Luke while Lee placed Clementine in her wheelchair.

"Just stay put, okay?" Lee said.

Clementine looked back to Rebecca and asked, "Is… Is Rebecca and her baby going to be okay?" Clementine asked as she turned back to her adoptive father.

"I don't know, sweet pea. I just know that they're in good hands. Carlos and Sarita are the best we got." Lee said.

Suddenly, gunfire erupted from outside which caught Lee's attention. He turned to see Kenny, Mike, Luke, and Jane firing at the walkers. The walkers must have been behind a closed gate since there weren't any noticeable advances made by the walkers. "I got to get out there." Lee said.

Clementine nodded to him as indication that she understood. Lee got up and went to help the group with the walkers, but his eyes turned to Carley. Her eyes were fixated on where Rebecca was and her arms were folded across her chest. Her stare was uneasy and almost scared. "Car, you okay?" Lee asked as he nudged her arm.

Carley shook her head out of her daze and looked to Lee. "What? Yeah, I'm okay." Carley said, but it was clear that she wasn't okay.

"Carley…" Lee said with concerned eyes aimed at his girlfriend.

"Come on. We better go help the others." Carley said and she walked outside. Lee joined her and together the group of six killed several walkers with their handguns, but it seemed that the herd was relentless. Every time that one was killed, another took its place.

"There's too many of them." Jane informed the group.

"Shit!" Mike exclaimed.

"Keep shooting! They're NOT getting up here!" Luke exclaimed.

"Forget it! We need a new plan!" Lee exclaimed.

"Well alright, professor, what do you got?" Kenny inquired as he fired another shot.

Suddenly, the gate started to rattle and shake from the constant weight and pressure of the walkers. "Shit, barricade the gate!" Mike exclaimed as he ran over to keep the gat from collapsing. Kenny and Bonnie ran over to help him while Luke hacked at the walkers with his machete.

"Lee, help us out!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Find something to barricade the door." Bonnie said.

Lee looked around the observation deck for anything that would keep the walkers on the other side of the gate. After a few seconds of searching, Lee spotted the cannon. "The cannon. Kenny help me push the cannon against the door!" Lee said as he went behind the cannon.

"On it, pal!" Kenny said. He raced over to Lee as Rebecca cried out in pain. Kenny got behind the cannon and together the two men pushed the cannon toward the gate. Suddenly, several wooden planks broke, and one of the cannon wheels fell through the floor boards. "Oh shit!" Lee exclaimed as he jumped back. The cannon's weight was too much for the poorly maintained deck to handle. The cannon fell through the deck leaving a giant hole and landing to the ground below.

"Oh f***!" Mike exclaimed as he jumped back from the destruction of the stairs. Now the walkers had no way of reaching the group, but the deck was also unstable.

"What is going on out there?" Carlos asked as the deck started to shake.

Lee looked up upon hearing a groaning sound. It was from the metal plate that held restraint for the deck. It was going to fall apart. "Everyone, get back!" Lee exclaimed. He rushed towards the gift shop as the metal plate snapped off. The group raced inside just in time as half the deck crashed down to the ground.

"That was close." Lee said. Suddenly, Jane ran toward the edge with Clementine in her arms. "What the-?" Lee inquired but he stopped mid-sentence when he watched Jane throw Clementine on the deck below. Lee could hear the paraplegic girl scream in fear from the descent to the ground. "What the f***?" Lee exclaimed. He ran to the edge to see Clementine on the destroyed deck with horror in her eyes. She was staring at the walkers that were limping towards her.

"Don't you dare go to save her." Jane said but she was too late. Lee dropped down onto the deck and went to help his daughter.

"It's okay, honey. I got you." Lee said as he picked her up. There was fear in her eyes, but it gave way to relief when he had picked her up. He got up and was face-to-face with a walker, but it was shot down. He looked over to see Carley shooting at another walker that had gotten close to him.

"Hurry, pal. Come this way." Kenny said. He was standing in front of a portion of the deck that was torn up; however, it was still somehow attached to the deck. Lee rushed over with Clementine in his arms.

"Take Clementine and then I can climb up the rest of the way." Lee said.

"You got it pal." Kenny said as he knelt down and extended his arms to accept the girl. Lee adjusted his grip on Clementine so that she could reach up to Kenny. Kenny groaned as he grabbed the girl's arms and pulled her up. Afterwards, Lee took hold of the debris of the deck and climbed up back to the top. He looked over and was relieved to see that his daughter was okay.

"You okay, sweet pea?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for saving me." Clementine said.

"You bitch! What is your problem?" Carley exclaimed as she approached Jane. However, the young woman ignored her and went to the edge of the observation deck.

"I was trying to help us." Jane said. She turned to Lee with a scowl on her face. "Now, thanks to you… those walkers below us are going to get up here. I tossed that useless girl to them so that they would leave us alone and to get rid of a liability."

"That is not your call!" Lee bellowed. A loud scream came from within the gift shop. It was Rebecca. Her pregnancy was ending, but it took every bit of her strength. The group looked to the gift shop to see what was happening.

"Keep pushing!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Oh shit." Jane muttered. Lee turned and his eyes widened upon seeing the walkers below crawling up to where the group was. "They're climbing up." Jane said.

"What?" Bonnie asked as she and the rest of the group went to the edge of the deck to investigate.

"They're going to make it up here." Carley said.

"Does this shit ever end?" Luke asked as the walkers continued to climb up to where the group was.

"We got to destroy the deck." Keith said as he exited the gift shop.

"Yeah, you're right." Lee said. "He's right! Drop the whole deck!"

"Drop the… are you f****** crazy?" Mike exclaimed.

"How are we going to do that?" Bonnie asked.

Lee looked up to the metal restraint and said, "That metal plate is the only reason that part of the deck is still up. Break it off and the whole deck goes crashing down."

Kenny walked next to Lee and said, "It's too high for us to reach."

"I can reach it if one of you put me on your shoulders." Keith said.

"Alright. Let's do this." Lee said. He turned to his girlfriend and said, "Carley, can you get Clementine into the gift shop."

"Yeah, I'm on it." Carley said and she carried the eleven year old inside. Clementine looked over to Lee with a look of thankfulness for saving her life and concern over his life and the dangerous action that he had to take.

"Here, should make quick work with that plate." Bonnie said as she handed the boy a hatchet.

"Okay, thanks." Keith said. He turned to Lee with a nod as an indication that he was ready. Lee lifted the boy and placed him on his shoulders to where he could reach the metal plate. There were a couple of metal clanks as the walkers crawled closer to the group.

"Keith, hurry up!" Jane exclaimed.

"Going as fast as I can." Keith said as another metal clank was heard. However, the next clank yielded results. Lee saw the plate fly off and the deck started to groan and shake.

"Watch it!" Luke exclaimed as he and the rest of the group got off the unstable deck.

"Son of a bitch!" Mike exclaimed. The deck finally collapsed and crushed any of the walkers along the way down. The walkers below now had no chance of climbing up to the group and several growled in frustration. Lee placed Keith on the ground, and the rest of the group looked down to the destroyed deck below.

Lee headed inside the gift shop to see his daughter and his wife looking toward Carlos, Rebecca, and Sarita. Carlos held the infant in his hands, but the baby was unresponsive.

"Oh no." Bonnie cried as Lee walked next to Clementine who was sitting in her wheelchair.

"Please no." Clementine whimpered.

Lee's eyes widened as Carlos tried to help the infant to breathe, but it wasn't responding. Suddenly the infant's eyes opened, but Lee could see that its chest wasn't moving. A growl emanated from the infant instead of crying which made Lee drop his head in sadness.

"C-Carlos…" Rebecca whimpered with tears in her eyes.

Carlos looked up with sad eyes to the group and said, "The baby… is a stillborn." It was a horrifying piece of information which made mostly everyone sad.

"No… no… no!" Rebecca cried. "My baby… my baby…!" Lee huffed as Clementine cried in her wheelchair. It was Christa's baby all over again, except worse. They had loss so many people in hopes of the baby being alive, and now, their struggles and their losses were in vain.

 **A/N: Wow the ending to this chapter was very depressing, but the part about Carley being possibly pregnant is the good news. Still… RIP AJ.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Trouble's coming.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee looked over to Rebecca, and for the first time, he felt sympathy for her. It must have been hard to lose a child like that. He looked down to Clementine with a thankful stare. He almost lost her today. It would have never happened if it wasn't for Jane. She had no reason to throw the helpless girl to the walkers. Clementine was peacefully asleep on Lee's lap at the moment while Carley laid on his shoulder. Lee never thought that things would get this crazy in only a few days' time.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Carlos walk over to Rebecca. "Rebecca, you have to eat." Carlos said as he tried to offer a granola bar to the woman.

There was no response for a few seconds until Rebecca finally said, "I'm not hungry."

"Rebecca…" Carlos said. However, the woman ignored him. Carlos sighed in defeat and he walked over to where Sarah was.

"Lee…" Carley said to her boyfriend. Lee looked over somewhat surprised. He thought that she was asleep. "I need to talk to you… in private."

"Okay. Let me hand off Clem to Kenny and Sarita." Lee said.

Carley got up from her resting position and said, "Meet me in the stairwell." She walked off in that particular direction while Lee was left somewhat confused. He had never seen her so distant. Something must have been on her mind. Lee placed an arm under Clementine's knees and picked up the girl as he got off the ground. She didn't stir a bit. He remembered that he didn't like her being a heavy sleeper in the past, but now, it was a benefit.

Lee looked over to Kenny and Sarita and saw that the boy, Keith, was sleeping with Sarita. He walked over as a smirk formed on his lips. He wondered if Sarita would become Kenny's new wife and Keith would be their adopted son, just like how he adopted Clementine. "Hey Ken." Lee whispered.

Kenny groaned as he awoke and he said, "Oh, hey pal. What's up?"

"Can you look after Clem for a little bit?" Lee said. "Carley wants to talk to me."

"Sure thing, pal." Kenny said with a smirk.

"Thanks." Lee whispered as he placed the girl in his best friend's grasp. He got up and looked down to the girl with a somewhat worried look.

"Hey don't worry. She's safe with me." Kenny said.

"I know. I just feel nervous these days." Lee said.

"I can understand why." Kenny said as he sent a glare toward someone else. Lee turned to see Jane keeping a close eye on him and Kenny. She also wore a scowl, but it was aimed at Lee.

Lee shook his head before he went toward the stairwell. He could feel Jane's eyes on him, and his anger was starting to hit its limit. She had no right to be mad at him. If anything, he should be furious with her. Lee rounded the corner and saw Carley looking down the stairwell. She seemed lost in thought. "Carley?" Lee said. There was no response. "Carley." Lee said as he approached the woman.

Carley turned around and said, "Oh hey… um…"

"Carley, are you feeling alright?" Lee asked.

"Yeah… yeah… of course. I just… okay, maybe not." Carley said.

"Let's talk about this, okay?" Lee said.

Carley nodded and said, "Yeah. Okay, um… you remember when Carver dragged me away back at Howe's?"

"Yeah, I remember." Lee said with anger lacing his voice. He hated the tyrant. He couldn't believe that a sweet boy like Keith was even related to such an evil man.

"Well… he…" Carley said, but she trailed off.

She started to huff as Lee watched on with sympathetic eyes. It wasn't long until Lee walked over and hugged his girlfriend. "Shh… it's okay. Take your time." Lee said.

Carley whimpered before she continued, "Lee… he raped me."

"The f***." Lee muttered.

"There's more." Carley said as she regained her composure. She got out of her boyfriend's grip and said, "Lee, I think I might have Carver's child inside of me. I don't know for sure yet, but at some point, I blacked out in that office and when I came to… I had this familiar feeling I haven't had in twelve years."

"You were…?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, it happened at a party. I guess we were all young once. Well, at some point, I blacked out and when I came to, I felt this odd feeling inside of me. I didn't learn until later that I was pregnant, but… I lost the baby. I had a miscarriage. After that, I never wanted to go through all of that ever again, but here I am and I guess… I've changed my mind." Carley explained. "Lee, if I become pregnant, will you force me to… get rid of the child?"

"Of course not." Lee said. "Unless you don't want that child."

"I do. I want this child." Carley said. "Don't get me wrong. I love Clementine so much. She's like the world to me, but I lost the only child that I ever had before it could have a chance. I want to try again."

"Carley, I'm here for you. That child might be half of a madman, but he or she will be half you, and that's more than good enough for me." Lee said.

Carley smiled at Lee before she hugged him. "Thanks Lee."

The two enjoyed a couple moments in their embrace until Lee pulled Carley back and said, "If you do have this child, I want to be there for him or her. I think we should get married."

Carley smiled at Lee and said, "I'd like that. I never thought I would be saying that to you, but… I guess anything can change."

"We should go tell the others. I know Clem will be very happy to have you as her adoptive mother." Lee said.

"Yeah, she's a pretty awesome kid." Carley said. The two proceeded to exit the stairwell and toward the gift shop, but there was one person in their way… Jane.

The cold loner looked to the two adults with an icy glare in her eyes. "What the hell do you want?" Lee said with an angry and hateful tone. It took every ounce of his strength to not rip the loners head off.

Jane didn't respond for a couple of seconds and instead she slowly went for her knife. "I heard everything." Jane hissed. "You're pregnant with Carver's kid. I can't allow something like that in the group." The cold loner approached Carley with her knife drawn.

"Get back." Lee said as he put himself between Jane and Carley.

Jane's glare adjusted to Lee. "You… you ruined everything!" Jane exclaimed. "You and that useless shit… we almost died today because of you two."

"And we almost died because of you and Luke!" Lee exclaimed. His anger was starting to boil over. He had enough of Jane. He wanted to kill her especially since she threw Clementine off the deck.

"I admit that we had a moment, but that fails in comparison to the shit that you've put this group through." Jane said as she drew the knife closer to Lee's throat.

"Stop trying to kill my girl; otherwise, I will kill you." Lee said with an angry and serious tone in his voice.

"You in what army?" Jane inquired. "I've had enough shit from both of you. I'm going to kill Clementine and there isn't anything you can do to stop me. You think you're tough shit, but you don't know what it takes to survive. You can't do the tough decisions."

"You're wrong." Lee said with an intimidating glare. He grabbed Jane by the neck and forced her into the wall.

"F*****, let me go!" Jane snapped as she squirmed in his grip, but Lee didn't budge an inch.

"You think you know what it takes to survive, but you don't. True survival means that you are able to take care of those you care about while still being able to take care of yourself. You failed in that." Lee said. "If you think that being a loner is the way to survive, then you should have left us alone."

Jane huffed as she thrashed in Lee's grip. "Lee, let go of her!" Luke exclaimed from the entrance of the stairwell. Lee looked up to him for a second to see Luke who was accompanied by Carlos. The younger of the two had wide eyes that expressed fear.

"Lee, watch out!" Carley exclaimed. Lee looked back to see Jane try to slash at him. He dodged out of the way from the loner's slash and grabbed her wrist. He gripped her wrist as she yelled in pain. Due to being half walker, Lee could go beyond his body's limitations for a short period of time. In other words, Lee had a higher tolerance towards pain than the average person, so his grip was strong enough to force Jane's grip on the knife to loosen.

The knife was about to fall out of her grip, but Lee used his other hand and gripped the loner's knife. A sudden rage overwhelmed Lee and he yelled out an angry yell and stabbed Jane in the chest. The loner cried out in pain and blood spat out of her mouth. "NNOOOO!" Luke shouted.

Lee dragged the knife down her body as she continued to cry out in pain. Finally, Lee snapped out of his rage and stepped back from the savage mauling that he committed. He was almost surprised by his actions.

Jane fell on her side and sputtered out some blood from her mouth. The knife was in the middle of her waist. Luke ran over to her and cried, "Jane, Jane…"

Lee huffed as the anger left his body. He couldn't believe that the part of him that got his first wife and the state senator killed was still inside of him.

"Carlos, I need help here." Luke said with tears in his eyes.

Carlos knelt down and said, "There's nothing that can be done for her except… to ease the pain."

"No… no, no." Luke cried as he lowered his head. Carlos got up and looked to Lee with a look of concern. He had never seen Lee commit such a horrible murder.

Eventually, Luke's sobs ended and he got up. It was noticeable that Jane was dead by this point. He looked to Lee with a glare and he said, "Are you happy? You f****** killed her!"

"She would have killed Lee, if he hadn't." Carlos said.

"Carlos, you can't defend a man like this. Do you really think that you can have Lee around Sarah?" Luke said as he looked to his friend with a shocked look.

Carlos closed his eyes for a minute and huffed out a long breath. He opened them and said, "I still trust him."

"You've got to be shitting me!" Luke exclaimed.

"Jane would have killed me." Carley said. "Lee stepped in to save me."

"Luke, I know that Jane meant a lot to you, but she was a horrible influence on the kids and I think on you too." Carlos said.

"No, you don't get it! I loved her, but that doesn't matter to you guys, does it?" Luke exclaimed. He looked down to the corpse of the loner and said, "All you guys care about is your families. Everyone else like me and her can die for all you care."

A few seconds ticked by until Carlos said, "We'll give you some time with her." He left for the gift shop along with Lee and Carley. Lee couldn't believe what happened back there. He knew Jane would push his buttons especially today, but when she wanted to kill the child that could be inside Carley, something snapped inside of him. He had to protect Carley, Clementine, and his future child. He should have taken action sooner so that Clementine wouldn't have been thrown off the deck earlier in the evening.

The three entered the gift shop with Sarah approaching them. "What happened?" Sarah asked.

"Jane… went a little too far. She wanted to hurt Carley." Carlos said to the group.

"Well what happened to her?" Mike asked. All eyes were on the doctor except for Rebecca who was still depressed over what happened to her child.

"She tried to attack me when I got between her and Carley, so I had to kill her." Lee said.

Mike's eyes widened and he muttered, "Damn, that's really cold, man."

"About time that you killed her." Kenny said. "I would have killed her ass a long time ago."

"Kenny, that is f***** up. She was a woman for crying out loud." Mike said.

"A woman who tried to kill a little girl and would threaten to kill her regularly. She had it coming." Kenny snapped.

"What's done is done. Let's just try to move on from this day." Carlos said.

"Yeah, I hear that. We'll keep pushing north for Wellington once Rebecca is feeling up to it." Lee said as he looked to the distant young woman.

"Look pal, we should head up that way immediately." Kenny said. "The more time we waste, the worst the weather is going to be."

"Rebecca will be in no condition to walk." Carlos said. "We'll take a few days to relax and get some new supplies."

"That would be for the best. We could all get some new shoes so that our feet don't freeze on the way up there." Sarita said.

"We can also get some more food for the trip up there and some winter coats. It's going to be a very cold trek." Lee said.

"So where exactly are we going to get all this stuff at?" Kenny asked.

"There's a town across the river. It might have everything we need. How about you and I check the place out tomorrow?" Carley said to Kenny.

"I still think we should leave early. We need to get a head start up there before it starts snowing." Kenny said.

"I hate to break it to you Ken, but it's already cold enough to snow right now." Lee said. "The best thing we can do is be ready for it by getting the supplies we need."

Kenny sighed in defeat and said, "Alright, guess I'm beat. Carley and I will check out that town tomorrow as for now. Let's get some sleep."

Lee nodded to his friend and he went over to retrieve Clementine. The eleven year old was wide awake and heard the whole conversation. Luke's shout must have woken her like it did for everyone else. "Thanks for looking after her." Lee said as he took Clementine in his arms again.

"No problem, pal. I'll watch her anytime you need me to." Kenny said. Lee gave his friend an appreciated nod as he walked back over to Carley. The girl was very quiet in Lee's grasp. She must have been thinking hard over Jane and how she was supposed to feel.

Lee sat down next to Carley and the two looked to Clementine. "You look deep in thought." Carley said as she took the girl's hand. "Are you okay?"

Clementine looked up and said, "I don't know. I… I should feel bad that Jane is gone now, but I don't feel anything."

Carley and Lee exchanged worried looks with one another and then they looked to the eleven year old. "Sweetheart, Jane was not a very nice person. It's okay if you don't feel any sympathy towards her." Lee said.

"But she's gone. I thought it was bad when someone in the group died." Clementine said.

"A lot of times, it is, but Jane was a very bad person. All she cared about was herself. If anything, she was more like Carver." Lee said.

"Okay, I guess I understand that." Clementine said.

Carley smiled to the girl and said, "Hey, sweetie, I got some good news for you."

Clementine smiled back and asked, "What is it?"

"Lee and I have been talking and we both think that we should get married. I'll become you adoptive mom." Carley said.

"Really?" Clementine said with an excited tone in her voice.

"Yeah. We'll be one big happy family, Clem." Lee said.

"That's… That's amazing. I love you both so much." Clementine said. She extended her arms out toward Carley to receive a hug from her new adoptive mother.

Carley obliged and hugged the girl back. "We love you too sweetie. We'll always be there for you." Carley said as she rubbed the girl's back.

The two separated and looked to each other with a loving stare. Tears of joy were present in Clementine's eyes which the girl immediately wiped away with the sleeve of her hooded sweatshirt. It was followed by her yawning.

"I'd say someone's tired." Carley said with a smirk.

"Yeah, let's get back to sleep, sweet pea." Lee said as he leaned the girl back onto his chest. She didn't fight him in the slightest which must have shown how tired she was. It had been an exhausting day for her and for her adoptive parents.

Lee and Carley soon fell asleep as well. Both rested easy now that Jane was no longer a threat.

 **5 Days Later**

The group of eleven people fought through the harsh blizzard in hopes of finding some kind of shelter. They had been put through a lot in the past couple of days. Lee remembered how horrible it was yesterday. They had to put down and bury Rebecca. He may not have seen eye-to-eye with her at first, but he was devastated to see how she just gave up. The group was still unsure of how she died.

Lee looked down to Clementine who was getting buffeted by the powerful winds and cold snow. She wore a purple winter coat with a dark gray wool lining inside. She was also wearing a pair of winter gloves and a scarf. All of the winter clothing was retrieved from the abandoned town that Carley and Kenny went to a couple days back.

Lee himself was wearing a black winter coat while Carley was wearing a yellow winter coat. Carlos had also gotten himself a winter coat. However, as prepared as they could be, they would have never anticipated such hostile weather. It felt like they have been going through it for hours, but in reality, it only last for thirty minutes.

"I think it's clearing up." Lee said to Kenny.

"About time, this storm is awful." Kenny said as he tried to shield his face with his hand. The group continued as the snow started to fall gently to the ground instead of hitting the group. Plus, the clouds didn't appear as dark or threatening. The blizzard had finally passed by.

The group continued toward some debris which Lee used to sit down. He was tired. Clementine may have been light for her age, but she was still eleven. It was getting harder on him to carry her especially when conditions were horrible like this.

"I think we should put her in the wheelchair." Carley said to Lee.

"Can't." Lee huffed as he shook his head. He looked up to Carley and said, "It'll be more effort to push that wheelchair through the snow than it is to carry her."

"He's got a point. With the snow this thick, the wheels would only jam up." Carlos said.

"You holding up okay?" Sarita asked both Keith and Sarah.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Keith said.

"It is pretty cold out here." Sarah said.

"We got something up ahead." Kenny said as he raised his hunting rifle toward a figure that was approaching the group.

Lee grunted as he got up and he looked over to see what appeared to be a teenage boy. "Hello." The boy called.

"Shit." Carley muttered.

"What's wrong?" Lee asked. He looked to her to see that she had an angered look on her face.

"That boy was the same boy that robbed me at the observation deck." Carley said.

"Are you sure?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, I know it was him. Keep your guard up. He's armed." Carley said.

"Let's just see if we can talk to him. He may have had a good reason to rob from you." Mike said.

"I don't care what reason he had. I'm going to blow his brains out if he tries anything stupid." Kenny said with a scowl aimed at the boy. The teenager was getting closer and closer with a confident smile on his face.

"Hello, I remember you." The boy said to Carley.

Carley crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Yeah, and I remember you. You're the piece of shit that stole from me."

"I had my reasons. You should be thankful that I didn't kill you." The boy said with an angry tone in his voice.

"Alright that's it. Enough of this shit." Kenny spat as he raised the hunting rifle to the boy's head. "We want our supplies, now. Where is it?" The boy finally recognized the danger he was, and he started to back away with his hands raised.

Suddenly, the group could hear an angry tone from what sounded like a woman. They turned their heads to see a blonde haired woman who seemed to have a pained look on her face. She had a handgun aimed at Kenny. She spoke in a foreign language but it was obvious that the woman wasn't pleased to see Kenny aiming his gun at the boy.

Kenny backed away as the group could hear snow crunching next to them. They looked over to see a brown haired man with an assault rifle in the bushes. He was soon joined by a bald headed man with several tattoos all over his body. He was armed with a shotgun. "These are my friends." The boy said to the group. "We usually hide when strangers come by, but you and your group have… how you say… mess with the wrong people."

"What are you talking about?" Kenny asked.

Suddenly, there was clapping that came from behind the group. They looked back in horror to see the man that they had come to dread. It was Carver! He had six people with him armed with assault rifles. One of the armed guards was Tavia. "Very good, Arvo." Carver said as he finished clapping. He approached the front of the group with an evil smile and turned his attention towards them. "Where's Rebecca?"

"She's gone. She… lost hope for survival after she lost her child." Luke said. His voice was still laced with misery over the loss of Jane.

Carver's face scrunched up with anger and said, "Is that so?" He pondered on his next set of actions while the group became more anxious by the minute.

"There was nothing we could have done. It's rare, but this does happen sometimes." Carlos said to calm the angry tyrant.

"That doesn't change the predicament you put me in. I no longer have an heir, and I know that my heir would have been alive and healthy if you hadn't gotten the idea to up and leave. I let you get away, but I never thought that you would lead me on a wild goose chase." Carver said. He looked to his guards and nodded to them.

All at once, the guards lifted their assault rifles and aimed at the group.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Mike said as he put his arms up to try to diffuse the situation. "Let's just talk about this, Bill."

"I do believe that there's nothing left to talk about." Carver said. Kenny raised his hunting rifle while Bonnie, Sarita, Carlos, Mike, and Carley raised their handguns in defense. However, Arvo and his group aimed their guns at the group. They were surrounded.

Lee looked over to Keith who pulled out his own handgun, but his grip on the gun was shaky. Lee remembered that the boy hated confrontation. He didn't have a problem killing walkers, but when it came to people, Keith was very scared and hesitant. He didn't want to take a life. The boy looked to Carver who was about to pull out his revolver. Keith's eyes widened and he said, "Wait. Hold on." Keith lowered his gun with an astonished look and he continued. "Are you William Carver?"

The tyrant looked to the boy with a glare and asked, "Yeah why?" The tyrant's features softened and a smirk found its way on his lips. "Hmm… you look familiar."

"Keith hush. Don't-" Kenny said but the boy ignored him. He had to do this.

"My name is Keith Weaver. I'm Erin's son." Keith said. "I'm your illegitimate son."

"Erin… that's a name I haven't heard in a while." Carver said with his smile growing. Lee could see the tyrant form a new plan right in front of him. It was almost frightening. "So, who would have thought that I had an heir on this Earth this whole time?" Carver said. He relaxed his posture and looked over to Tavia. "Tavia, finish up here. Kill all of them, but bring Keith back… alive."

"Wait, no!" Keith exclaimed. "I'll go with you without a fight, if you don't hurt them."

Carver's smirk fell and he said, "There's a lot I have to teach you. One lesson that I'll teach you in advance is to get rid of all loose ends and I intend to do that." Keith's eyes widened upon seeing how heartless his father truly and he lowered his head.

Carver looked back to Tavia and nodded to her as a signal to eliminate the group. He then walked away causally.

The two groups tensed up and held their weapon against each other. All it took was a slight movement and everything would start spiraling down into a chaotic gunfight. "Open fire!" Tavia exclaimed.

"Duck!" Kenny exclaimed. The group did as they were told and gunshots flew over their heads. He got up and took Clementine behind a segment of a destroyed, brick wall.

"Stay here." Lee said to the girl.

"It's not like I can go anywhere else!" Clementine exclaimed. She was panicking due to the loud gunfight and the horrifying situation that the group was in.

Lee nodded and he got back up. He looked around to see Kenny using a tree as cover. Keith and Sarita were trying to get Sarah out of the firefight while staying low to avoid getting shot, but the girl was too focused on staying with Carlos who was on the ground. Bonnie and Luke were also on the ground while Mike was retreating behind a portion of the destroyed wall. Lee could also see that Carver's group had two casualties. Both were bleeding out on the ground. While in Arvo's group, the bald headed man and the blonde haired woman were down. Arvo was trying to bring her back to life, but it didn't seem to be working.

Lee knew that he had to take action. He didn't want to leave Clementine all by herself, but the gunfight would never end if he sat on the sidelines.

"F*** you. You started this shit. You took us from our home." Kenny yelled from behind cover.

"You destroyed our home, you piece of shit. We had everything working out for us and then you let the lurkers get in." One of the guards said. The guard ran for a new form of cover but was shot down by Carley. Like Kenny, she was using the tree for cover.

Lee went in the direction of Carver's people and used the destroyed sections of the wall as cover. They must have been too focused on Carley and Kenny because he didn't hear or feel any bullets whirl by him. Lee continued toward Tavia and her two remaining guards with his gun at the ready.

Finally, he was in position to outflank them. He came out of cover and shot one of the guards. It was a headshot so the guard died instantly. Tavia turned just in time for Lee to fire another shot which hit her in the chest. However, Lee had to duck for cover from the other guard's shot.

Lee got up and was going to shoot at the guard again, but he disappeared. Suddenly, another gunshot rang out and Kenny exclaimed, "We got one left." Kenny must have killed the last guard. Lee moved back to where he had left his adopted daughter and was relieved to see that she was still alive.

She seemed to relax upon seeing him as well. If it wasn't for their current situation, she would have hugged him. Lee fired into the woods where the brown haired Russian man was. He was the last one firing at the group. After several minutes shooting back and forth, the group couldn't hear anymore gunshots from the forests.

"Did we get him?" Lee asked Kenny. Kenny shrugged in response. He didn't know what was going on.

Suddenly, Carley appeared next to Kenny and said, "I got him." She held up the assault rifle as proof of the Russian man's death. "I came up from behind him and shot him."

"Good job." Lee said. He bent down and picked up Clementine who hugged him with a suffocating grip. Despite how inactive she had become, she was still strong. "It's okay, honey. Everything is okay." Lee said as he held onto her and rubbed her back to comfort her.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Quite the gunfight and Carver has returned.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Wow, this FanFic is coming to an end pretty quickly. I never expected to finish this thing so quickly. So excluding this chapter, I think we only have two more chapters and an Epilogue at the most.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Eventually, Clementine's grip on Lee had loosened and she allowed Lee to adjust his hold on her. She looked to him with a loving stare as he smiled back at her. Carley approached the two and asked, "Clem, sweetie, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay mom." Clementine said as she turned her glance to Carley.

"Here, can you take her?" Lee asked. "I should check to see if everyone else is okay."

"Yeah." Carley said as she accepted the eleven year old. Clementine didn't seem to mind the exchange, but she kept a constant stare on Luke, Carlos, and Bonnie.

Lee ran over to see Sarah holding onto her father's hand. "Carlos, you alright?" Lee asked as he looked down at the man.

The doctor had a pained look on his face and there was a bullet wound to his arm. "I'm fine…" Carlos huffed. "It stings quite a bit. Help me up." Carlos brought his arm out for Lee to help him up. Lee obliged and he helped Carlos get off the ground.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, sweetie. It's just a graze." Carlos said.

Lee turned to Luke and Bonnie and headed toward them next. Mike was already with Bonnie. He looked up to Lee with a frown and shook his head. Bonnie was gone. Lee looked down to Luke, but he knew that the young man was also dead. There was a bullet wound to his head. Lee sighed as Carlos and Sarah joined him.

"I know that we didn't get along to well at the end, but Luke did help me when I first showed up at the cabin." Lee said.

"It was too much for him. He felt this immense pressure to keep us all safe while Carver was nipping at our heels." Carlos said

The rest of the group joined them and they stared at the corpses of Bonnie and Luke. Kenny was the only one who was completely unsympathetic towards them and instead he merely crossed his arms over his chest.

"I… I can't believe this happened." Mike said.

"I guess Carver is more relentless… than even I had anticipated." Carlos huffed. He growled in pain and gripped his arm.

"We… We should bury them." Keith said with a frown. Lee noticed that Sarita had her hands on his shoulders to comfort the boy.

"We can't, sweetie." Sarita said. "The snow is too thick and we don't have anything to dig with."

"She's right. We'll say our good-byes here and move on." Carlos said. The group took a moment of silence for their fallen allies while Carley gave Clementine back to Lee.

The moment of silence came to an end upon hearing a light sobbing. They turned their heads toward Arvo, but the only one who was sympathetic towards him was Mike. The lean man walked over and helped the teenager to his feet which infuriated Kenny.

"Leave him!" Kenny snapped. "He deserves to stay here."

Mike turned and scowled at Kenny. "Come on Kenny. He's just a boy. More than likely, Arvo had to join Carver, or he and his group would have been killed."

"He held me at gunpoint!" Carley exclaimed.

"Mike, we can't trust him." Lee said. "He was with Carver."

"Exactly. We can't trust this shitbird." Kenny snapped.

"And what about Keith? How are we supposed to trust him? I mean he's Carver's flesh and blood." Mike asked as he crossed his arms over his chest with a glare aimed at Kenny.

"That doesn't mean shit." Kenny spat. "Keith didn't try to get us killed."

"Wait, I have food and supplies. They at house. Please… please, I can take you." Arvo said with a sob.

"See, he wants to help us." Mike said.

"Oh don't be stupid!" Kenny exclaimed. "He's just trying to save his own ass! Why else would he try to help us?"

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed by the group. Few knew what to do and the other members were hesitant to speak up. Lee was hesitant to speak up mostly due to the fact that it meant that Arvo would have to stay with them. Lee huffed and said, "Ken, I'm not going to like this anymore than you will, but we'll need him to come with us so we can get the supplies."

Kenny turned to Lee with a shocked face and he said, "Lee, what the f***?"

"Please, let's just listen to Lee." Keith said. He lowered his head and said, "I don't want to see any more bloodshed."

Kenny frowned at the boy and huffed. Despite being with the boy for such a short period of time, Kenny had become quite attached to him. Kenny shook his head in distaste before he looked over to Mike and Arvo. He didn't like what his group was suggesting, but he knew that they were right. If Arvo had supplies, they would need it. While he and Carley were able to find plenty of new clothing to protect themselves from the cold, neither were successful in finding much food. Additionally, their food supplies were dwindling. "Do we have anything to tie this shitbird up?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, I got some rope in my backpack." Carley said as she took off her backpack and placed it on the ground. She rummaged through the backpack as Mike escorted Arvo toward the group.

"We're doing the right thing." Keith said to Kenny.

Kenny grumbled to himself and said, "I just want to get our stuff back along with getting some food. We don't got much left."

"Come, you follow and I take you to house." Arvo said.

"Just give me a reason." Kenny grumbled as he walked by the teenager to scout the area ahead.

"Yeah man, he gets it." Mike snapped at Kenny.

Carley finished the knot and gestured the teenager to move. Lee walked up to her as Mike and Arvo left to lead the group. "Are you okay?" Lee asked Carley. The two adults moved forwards as Clementine looked to her adoptive mother with a worried look. She was also worried about Carley.

"I'm fine." Carley muttered.

"Carley…" Lee said.

"I said I'm fine!" Carley exclaimed. Her eyes widened upon snapping at Lee. Everyone within the group was looking at her with surprised looks with the exception of Arvo who continued to limp forward. After he passed Kenny the older man walked after him with Mike following.

"I'm sorry." Carley said as she lowered her head. "I think I just need time to myself."

"Okay, I'm here if you need me." Lee said. Carley nodded before she walked off. Lee huffed before he began walking again. Keith and Sarita joined him and the three continued to walk through the snow.

"I've never seen Kenny like that." Sarita said.

"I have." Lee said. "It happened back in Savannah. There was this boy in our group and… well… he did a stupid thing. We lost our home because of him. Then the leader of our group started pointing fingers and put the blame on Carley. She nearly got killed because of that."

"Yes, I know. Kenny told me about that." Sarita said.

"Well, here's something that he probably didn't tell you. Kenny's boy, Duck, got bit back at the motor inn when we tried to escape." Lee said.

Sarita jumped in response which was followed by her lowering her head in sadness. "I couldn't bear to lose a child like that."

"There's more. Once I convinced Kenny to stop the train that we were on for his son, we… I told him that I would take care of it, but Katjaa had other ideas." Lee explained.

"What did she do?" Sarita asked.

Lee looked to the woman and said, "She gave up."

Sarita understood what Lee meant and her eyes widened in horror. She looked over to Kenny and asked, "Is there any way that we can still save him?"

"I think so. We just need to get out of all of this." Lee said. "The faster we get out of this horrible world of the undead, the faster Kenny will come around."

"Are you feeling alright, Keith?" Clementine asked.

Keith looked over to Clementine upon hearing her question as the two adults looked to the boy for a response. "I… I could be doing better." Keith said with a frown. "My dad… he… he was way worse than I thought. I heard of how horrible he was, but I figured that was all exaggerated."

"You should be more careful. I told you that it was dangerous to reveal who your father was." Lee said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you guys getting hurt, and I thought if I told him who I was that he would leave you guys alone." Keith said.

"But if that happened, he would have taken you. I don't want that to happen." Sarita said. "We care a lot about you, sweetie. The last thing we ever want to see happening is you going off with that madman."

"She's right. Let us handle it, okay?" Lee said.

"Got it." Keith said. He turned his attention to Clementine and smiled at her. "So Clem, what do you think Wellington is going to be like?"

"I don't know. I hope that it'll be nice and peaceful and it might be nice if they can do something with my paralysis." Clementine said.

"Yeah, I'm hoping for that too. After that, we can cause some mayhem up there." Keith said.

"Mayhem? Like what? You two conspiring to feed the ducks with bread or something?" Lee joked.

"Hey come on. We can be bad if we wanted to be." Keith said with a smirk.

"Yeah right." Lee said. "I'm surprised you even know what that word means." Keith and Clementine sent a playful glare at Lee while Sarita stifled a laugh. The group continued on through the thick snow with Keith doing his best to keep Clementine entertained. The two friends had become quite close over the last couple of days which was good since Lee has noticed that Sarah wasn't as social as Clementine, and the girl needed someone to talk to. Their conversation continued as Arvo led the group with Kenny and Mike staying close by. Carlos and Sarah followed the two men. Carley followed the father and daughter with her head going back and forth between the ground and Carlos and Sarah. Finally, Lee, Clementine, Sarita, and Keith brought up the rear of the group.

* * *

The group continued throughout the rest of the day. Lee had no choice but to keep pushing his body beyond its limits to continue carrying Clementine. He hated in doing so since he could cause significant damage to his arms by carrying the eleven year old for too long. The group approached a ledge where there weren't as many trees. Lee huffed as he continued to trudge on.

He looked down to Clementine who was looking at him with concerned eyes. They had been walking for at least seven hours and it was taking a toll on Lee.

"You okay?" Carley asked.

"No… can you take her? My arms… are about to fall off." Lee said.

"Yeah, of course." Carley said. She placed her arms under Clementine and said, "Okay, I got her." Carley said. Lee huffed and allowed his arms to rest to his side. "You should have said something. I would have carried her for a little while." Carley said to Lee.

"I didn't want to slow us down." Lee said.

"Is this it?" Kenny barked at the Russian teenager.

"W-What?" Arvo asked. "It? It what?"

"Is that it? Is that the f******* place you're taking us?" Kenny asked Arvo. Lee could tell that Kenny was about to blow. He knew that Kenny had a short fuse on him especially around people he didn't like.

"I don't think he speaks much English, Ken." Lee said.

"Yeah, no shit." Kenny spat.

"Arvo, we're not trying to be mean." Keith said to the teenager. "We just want to know if this is where the food and supplies are."

"No, it is at the house." Arvo replied. "It's still more walk. Several more hours."

The scowl that had formed in Kenny's features had grown and he spat out, "Dammit! I knew this was going to happen. This guy f****** us." Kenny said pointing his handgun at Arvo in a casual manner like it was just a finger. Arvo flinched and tried to avoid being in the direct path of the gun.

Lee shook his head and looked out to the power station. He would need to get up close to make sure that it was safe, but from far away, it did look promising.

"Perhaps, we should calm down. We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves." Carlos said.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Kenny snapped.

"Kenny, he's just trying to help." Sarita said to calm Kenny down. "Think about the children. We don't need to put them through any more than what they had to go through today."

Kenny sighed and said, "Alright… fine."

"Hey Ken, I think we can spend the night here. The fence doesn't look too bad." Lee said.

Kenny walked up to join Lee and looked out toward the power station. "Hmm… maybe. You and I will check it out. The rest of you stay here and wait for us to come back."

"You got it." Carley said.

The two men climbed down the hill while also trying to keep their balance. Lee could hear Kenny grumble and he asked, "You alright, Ken?"

"No, I'm not." Kenny said as the two men finally reached the bottom of the hill. "Lee, you know that Commie piece of shit is up to no good."

"Look Ken, for what it's worth, none of us trusts Arvo, but we need the supplies. We don't have to put up with him for very long; it's just for a while." Lee said as the two men approached the fence.

"You don't get it, do you? That boy was more than willing to kill us a couple of hours ago. I mean think about the kids. Clem and Sarah can't defend themselves and Keith doesn't want to kill people. But that Ruskie will kill them without batting an eyelash." Lee's eyes widened and he looked back to the group. "We gotta do what we gotta do to keep our families safe, Lee. I mean you've got Carley, her baby, and Clementine to look after."

"You might be right, Ken… Still, that boy ain't doing anything any time soon, but I think we should keep a sharp eye on him. Just in case, he does something stupid." Lee said.

"It's not a matter of 'just in case.' It's a matter of 'when.'" Kenny said. He looked to the fenced in power station and said, "Come on let's check this place out, then we can get a fire started."

"Sounds like a plan." Lee said. The two men separated and looked around the power station's fence for any weaknesses. Lee was able to find a couple of small holes, but it didn't seem like anything major was wrong with the defenses.

Lee went back to the others with Kenny joining alongside him. "So, what'd you find?" Kenny asked.

"A couple of small holes, but nothing major." Lee said.

"Well, alright. Seems things are finally looking up for us." Kenny said. They walked up to the bottom of the hill and looked towards the group. "Come on down. It's safe." Kenny said to the group.

The group members walked down from the hill while Lee went up the hill halfway to help Carley. The young woman was strong enough to carry Clementine for a long period of time, but the hill was slick and the last thing Lee wanted to see happening was for Carley to fall onto the snow and slide down. Carley did slip a couple times, but Lee was able to catch her before she fell. After a couple of minutes, Lee and Carley got to the bottom of the hill and Carley smiled to Lee. "Thanks Lee."

"You're welcome." Lee said. He turned his gaze to Clementine and asked, "How are you holding up, sweet pea?"

"I'm okay." Clementine said. "Thanks for carrying me today. I wish you guys didn't have to."

"It's okay, hon. It's not your fault." Lee said.

"Yeah, it's that asshole's fault." Kenny muttered.

"Can't we just let it go?" Sarah asked. "I know that Nick did a really stupid thing by shooting Clem, but he's dead now."

"I'm sorry sweetie, but it's not always that easy." Carlos said as he placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "It may have been an accident, but Nick should have known better. He knew how a gun works and he should have never aimed it at Clementine."

"I hate to say it, but I agree. I don't think I can ever forgive him for hurting a child." Sarita said. Keith lowered his head with a frown forming on his face. Lee was shocked to see that the boy wasn't quick to correct them. After all, Keith believed in God and Lee had seen him reading his Bible multiple times when they were in the gift shop.

"F*** him. Let's get a fire started before we all freeze out here." Kenny said and he started for the power station. The group followed as the sun in the sky continued to drop along with the temperature.

 **Hours Later**

The cold, chilled air of the night left an eerie and quiet atmosphere among the survivors that surrounded the campfire. It wasn't easy for them to find dry wood, but they managed. It helped that power station floor was a dirt ground with a thin layer of frost on it. One of the survivors, Arvo, was tied up and kept away from the group. The full moon allowed for a very visible night which was accompanied by the stars. The silence among the survivors around the campfire was warm and inviting. For the first time, they could relax and enjoy the evening. Prior to the night, there was always tension within the group, but with Bonnie and Luke gone, most of the tension was gone. Lee had Clementine on his lap as the girl continued to read her book. Lee had her lean back slightly to where he was holding her which must have been more comfortable for her than sitting upright. She seemed more relaxed in his grip.

Lee smiled down to the girl as she got more engrossed into her book. He looked up to the group and said, "Today would have been Bud's birthday." Lee said.

"Bud? Who's that?" Kenny asked. All eyes looked to Lee, even Clementine's amber orbs looked to him with a questioning stare.

"He was my brother. He would have been thirty-one today." Lee said.

"What was he like?" Clementine asked.

"Well, your Uncle Bud was a pretty fun guy. He always knew how to be the highlight of a party. He didn't take many things seriously." Lee said.

Kenny chuckled and said, "It sounds like he and Omid would get along pretty well."

"Who's Omid?" Sarah asked.

"Oh… he was a character. He always tried to look on the positive side of everything. I'm sure he would crack a couple of stupid jokes right now… if he would have survived." Kenny said.

"Well, I'm sure we can celebrate anyway." Carley said. The group looked to the woman who had a bottle of rum in her hand.

"Now, where did you get that?" Lee asked with a smirk.

"I found it in Bonnie's backpack. I guess she got it from Howe's." Carley said as she opened the bottle of rum.

"Now hold on, Car. You're pregnant remember?" Lee said.

"I know. I'm not drinking this." Carley said as she handed the bottle of rum to Lee. Lee smiled and he took the bottle of rum in his free hand.

"Can I have some?" Clementine asked.

Lee looked down to the girl and said, "You wouldn't like it, sweetheart. It has a bitter taste."

"Oh okay." Clementine said.

"We'll let you have some when you turn twenty-one, okay?" Carley said to her adopted daughter as Lee took a sip of the rum. He felt a bitter shock from the drink, but it was also tangy.

"It's strong. That's for sure." Lee said as he took another sip before he passed it to Carley. Carley got up and handed it to Kenny.

The older man took a couple of sips and said, "Fruity, but strong." He took another sip and said, "I remember when I used to drink. I didn't have a good reason to."

"I think we were all that way." Carlos said with frown forming on his lips. "When my wife died, I drank heavily… at least two bottles of whiskey a day."

"What stopped you?" Lee asked.

Carlos looked to Sarah and said, "I guess she did. She begged me to stop." Carlos sighed and continued, "I had to stop. I still had Sarah, and I needed to step up and take care of her."

"I know how that feels." Kenny said. "I lost my wife and son on the same day." Kenny said.

"It seems we've all lost family, but I don't think we should let that get us down." Sarita said. "We should remember the good times."

"Yeah, you got a point." Lee said. He hummed in concentration and thought of a good story about Bud. "I think the dumbest thing I've ever seen Bud do was when we were at my bachelor party."

"What's that?" Clementine asked.

"It's a party for a man who is going to get married." Lee explained. "I don't know who did it, but someone spiced the punch. I could tell the difference, but Bud couldn't."

Kenny laughed and asked, "So what did he do?"

"He got on the roof and claimed that he was Superman before jumping off. He didn't get hurt since it was a one-story house, but I made sure that he drank nothing but water for the rest of the night." Lee said with a chuckle.

Most of the group got a chuckle or a laugh from the story. However, silence returned as the bottle of rum kept getting passed on by the members of the group. There wasn't much for them to talk about. Going through memories of the past were painful for most of them especially Kenny and Clementine with each losing their whole family. Lee was able to recollect on the memories of his family since he now had his own family with him which made the pain easier to deal with.

Lee looked around the group before he looked to Clementine. "So Clem, what did you want to be when you grew up?"

The girl pondered for a second before she said, "I wasn't too sure if I wanted to be a doctor like my mom or an engineer like my dad, but now, I'd like to be a history professor, like you."

"I'm glad to hear that sweet pea." Lee said. "There's a lot of neat things I could teach you."

"So you wouldn't want to be a reporter?" Carley teased.

"Not exactly. I like being a homebody, and besides, I really couldn't do that now." Clementine said as she looked down to the non-functioning lower half of her body.

Carley looked down with a frown. She felt bad for her adoptive daughter especially since she brought up the girl disability indirectly.

"I'm sorry. I just can't stop thinking about it." Clementine said.

"It's okay, hon. You still need time to adjust." Lee said. A smile formed on his face and he continued, "With any luck, we'll be able to get you walking again at Wellington."

"Yeah, hopefully, there's someone up there that can fix you up." Kenny said.

"I hope so." Clementine said.

The adults turned their attention to Keith next and Kenny asked, "So, what'd you want to do before all of this?"

"I wanted to become a doctor, just like my grandpa." Keith said.

"Yeah, I wanted to be a doctor, too." Sarah said.

"I think you would benefit from being an English major." Carlos said to Sarah. "You're like your mother. You like to read and you have a good memory."

"Yeah, maybe… I really don't know." Sarah said.

The group then heard light sobbing that was a few feet from them which belonged to the Russian teenager, Arvo. Mike looked over to the boy with a saddened look and said, "Let me get that bottle." Mike got up and walked over to Carlos and brought his hand out to take the rum. Carlos shrugged and handed it to Mike. "We got someone else that might need some help." Mike said as he accepted the rum.

"Sounds like a waste of good rum." Kenny said with a cold tone in his voice.

Mike looked to Kenny with a glare and said, "He just lost his sister today, asshole."

"He's too dangerous. He was working with Carver." Carlos said.

"That's not his fault. He and his people probably thought that Carver was a good man and was trying to take us down so that we didn't come back to hurt him or his group." Mike said.

"Why are you defending that boy so much?" Carley asked.

"Because, I don't think it's fair on how you all are treating him." Mike said.

"He tried to get us all killed." Kenny snapped. "So, sorry if you expected us to be all rainbows and sunshine after he nearly got us killed."

"He still deserves a second chance." Mike said. He turned to Keith and said, "Keith, doesn't the Bible say something about turning the other cheek and not having a grudge?"

"Yeah, but I-" Keith said but he was stopped by Kenny.

"You leave him out of this!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Fine, but I made my point." Mike said. "We should be willing to forgive that boy because we've all done the worst things to just survive." Mike turned and left the group but it was evident that he was angry. He made his way toward Arvo as the group watched on, but none of the adults were feeling bad for giving the teenager heck.

"I think we're giving that Ruskie everything he deserves." Kenny said.

"Look Ken, I know how you feel. My family was in that mess today, but maybe Arvo and his people didn't have a choice. Carver may have forced them to kill us and that madman may have made us out to be the bad guys in all of it." Lee said.

"It don't matter, Lee. He attacked us, so the way I see it, we're the ones in the right, not that Commie piece of shit." Kenny said.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Arvo was heard shouting. The group looked over to see what would have made the boy snap and they saw Mike standing in front of him.

"Sorry, okay? My fault. I shouldn't have…" Mike started to say to calm Arvo, but the teenager lashed out again.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Arvo shouted again. It was evident that pain and sadness were laced in his voice.

Kenny growled and he got out of his seat. He started to walk in the direction of where Arvo and Mike were with a scowl on his face but Lee stopped him. "Now hold up, Ken." Lee said.

"No, this ends now." Kenny grumbled.

"Ken, this is just like last time with Ben." Lee snapped.

Kenny was shocked upon hearing Lee's input. He then looked down with a frown. As much as Kenny hated Ben for what he did to his family, Kenny still felt remorse for how he handled the situation. Lee could see the regret on Kenny's face and remembered what happened at the time.

Ben was a stupid kid, but one thing that Lee did was consider that Ben was all by himself in the group. Lee thought of the boy's family and how the teenager probably didn't know what happened to them and when Kenny gave Ben hell for what happened, Lee knew that Kenny didn't take the fact that Ben was all alone at the motor inn into consideration.

Kenny huffed and said, "Alright pal but I won't lay off of him until I see those supplies."

"That's all I ask for." Lee said. Kenny sat back down next to Sarita. He kept thinking back to what happened in Savannah as Sarita and Keith looked to him with concerned eyes which also had fear in them.

Lee looked over to Mike and Arvo upon hearing whimpering. It was Arvo. He must have been mourning his sister in his native language since most of the words that came from Arvo's mouth were unrecognizable to him.

"It's okay… it's okay… she's in a better place." Mike said as he crouched down in front of the teenager. "It's okay… it's okay."

Lee looked down to Clementine and noticed that her eyes were starting to shut. She must have been tired. "I think it would be best if we all got some sleep right now." Lee said as he looked up to the group.

"Yes, that would be best. Who knows how far we have to walk tomorrow." Carlos said.

Lee nodded and he adjusted the girl on his lap to where he was on the ground and the girl was sleeping on his arm. "I can't wait till we get to Wellington and I can get you onto a mattress so you wouldn't have back pain when you woke up."

"Me too." Clementine said. "In the meantime, you're pretty comfy."

Lee chuckled in response as the girl closed her eyes. He felt someone lay down next to him and saw Carley. "I think she's going to be happy at Wellington."

"I know I will." Lee said. The two adults kissed each other and Lee said, "Good night, Car."

"Night, Lee." Carley said. Lee looked back to Clementine and smiled to see her resting. His eyes began to close shut as well until finally he started to sleep.

… **To be continued.**


	14. Author Note

**Hey guys. Q here and no this is not a chapter update. It is an author note about this series.**

 **First, I want to thank everyone who has read this series and a special thanks to those who have favorite, followed, and reviewed for this story. This story would not be as good without you guys supporting it. All I can say is thanks for all the support.**

 **Anyway, onto the main subject. I tried to continue with my original idea which would have made the story slightly longer, but it didn't work out. It was very slow and tedious. So, we're moving on to the final chapter. I hope you guys won't mind. Anyway, again, you guys are awesome and prepare for the final chapter of A Walk to Remember.**

 **UPDATE: Okay, I've been trying to write out Chapter 14 and sadly... I need to put it in another chapter... I should be able to finish this thing by Chapter 15...**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay… well, this has been a very unpredictable FanFic… I thought I could get it all done this chapter, but it just didn't work… Still there's plenty of excitement in this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

 **Clementine's POV**

Clementine's eyes opened upon realizing that she was no longer in her adoptive father's embrace. Instead, she was in her wheelchair. She looked down and saw that her hands were tied to the armrests of the wheelchair. "What?" Clementine said as she tried to yank her arms free of the armrests. She then looked to her surroundings. She was in a room with a fireplace and a window. The room looked partially built. A fire was lit which kept the room rather warm. If Clementine wasn't worried about her situation, it would have been the most comfortable room she's been in since the motor inn fell. She didn't have to look for very long until she noticed an intimidating figure near the fireplace… It was Carver. Her eyes widened and she tried to wrestle free from the restraints.

"Don't even try... You'll just waste your energy and trust me… you're going to need it." Carver said with a satisfied smirk.

"What's going on? Why are you doing this?" Clementine asked.

She watched as the madman's smirk grew. It made her scared. She wanted Lee now more than ever. "Well, you see, your dad took everything from me. My community, my people, my love, and my heir. But I'm not completely heartless. I had Mike and Arvo help me get you here. You see… Mike and Arvo owe their allegiance to me, so I had them kidnap you so that we could get my new heir." Carver explained.

"Your new heir?" Clementine asked.

"Yes, my illegitimate son, Keith. He will be the beginning of my new community and I will never make the mistake of underestimating my enemy again." Carver said with a glare aimed at the dancing flames in the fireplace.

"Leave Keith alone. He's nice and innocent. He'll never become like you." Clementine said.

"Maybe, but I'm persistent. I won't take 'no' for an answer." Carver said. A smirk formed and he continued, "It'll only be a matter of time till I break him."

Clementine pondered on the madman's plan before she looked to him and asked, "Why didn't you take Keith? Why go for me?"

"Two reasons." Carver said. "One was that you're a heavy sleeper and the other is because I want some revenge. If you think this is going to end with a reasonable exchange after everything that has happened, then you're dead wrong." Carver turned from the girl and looked back to the dancing flames in the fireplace as Clementine's eyes widened in fear. She knew what the madman meant but he chuckled and continued, "Emphasis on dead." She already knew what he meant, but how was she going to convince the monster into not killing her.

Her eyes widened and she said, "I can help you."

"Oh? How so?" Carver asked as he turned his head from the fireplace.

"This is Arvo's place. He said that he and his people have some supplies. I don't know where they are, but isn't that worth keeping me alive." Clementine said.

Carver chuckled and said, "Already found them. He was more than helpful in showing where the supplies were. Though that wasn't bad thinking on your part. You would have been an excellent survivor if you weren't bound to that chair." He turned his head back to the fireplace as Clementine started to huff. Her huffing turned into whimpering. She didn't want to die and the anxiety of dying was starting to affect her. All she wanted at the moment was Lee.

 **Lee's POV**

Lee received a kick and groaned as his eyes opened. He looked up to Mike who had an intimidating scowl on his face and an assault rifle in hand. Lee thought it was strange to see the man scowl but he noticed something more disturbing. Clementine wasn't with him. "Clem? Where's Clem?" Lee asked.

"She's waiting for us to make the exchange." Mike said. "Where's Carley?"

Lee turned and saw that the markswoman was indeed gone. He had no idea what was going on. "I… I don't know." Lee said as he got up. He turned back to Mike and asked, "What's going on? What is this about an exchange?"

Mike's scowl softened and he said, "I didn't want to do this, but no one really gave me a choice. Carver found us last night… soon after you guys went to sleep. He told me that I had to help him."

"You let that madman take her from me?" Lee bellowed.

"I didn't have a choice. Bill may have been hard to deal with, but he saved my life and the lives of the people I cared about. You and your group only got them killed." Mike said.

"That is not even close to being true. We went through a lot of shit. Some folks got caught up in it and we had no choice but to move on." Lee said.

Lee and Mike looked over upon hearing some muffled growling and shouts. They both saw Kenny; he had his hands tied up and his mouth gagged. However, Lee could tell that he was angry. His face was as red as a tomato and he gave a death glare to Mike and Arvo who was also armed.

The Russian teenager said something in his language before he struck Kenny with the butt of his assault rifle. "No, please, don't hurt him." Sarita pleaded.

Arvo aimed his assault rifle toward Sarita before he looked to Keith who was standing behind her as if she was his mother and that she would protect him. However, Arvo showed no reluctance and he pulled Keith away from Sarita.

"Sarita." Keith said as he tried to get back to the woman. Arvo pushed him forward and aimed his rifle at the boy.

"Sweetie, just go with him. Everything will be alright." Sarita said. Keith nodded and he turned to Mike. He started to walk in his direction while Arvo had his gun aimed at Keith. The Russian teenager was tense and was ready to shoot at any minute.

"Easy Arvo." Mike said. "Bill wants him alive." Arvo nodded before Mike looked up to the other group members. "Alright, this doesn't have to end badly. If everything goes smoothly, Bill will get Keith and you guys will get Clementine. Then, we'll never see each other again. If you don't cooperate, then we'll shoot you all with Keith being the exception, and when we get back, we'll kill Clementine."

"Mike, please, think about what you are doing." Sarita said. "Keith and Clementine are two of the most innocent children in this world. Do you really want to destroy that?"

Mike looked to Sarita with a saddened look and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't have a choice. Carver saved my life and this is my way of giving him my thanks." He looked around the group and asked, "Does anyone here know where Carley is?" No one spoke up which made Mike sigh. "Looks like this is it. Come on." He made a gesture with his assault rifle and the group moved forward. "No funny business. It would be a shame if I had to shoot you."

* * *

Lee felt uneasy during the whole march to what he assumed was the house that Arvo was leading them to yesterday. He was behind Carlos and Sarah. Sarita followed him while Arvo kept beating on Kenny at random times. Mike took the lead with Keith in front of him.

Lee looked back to see Arvo kick Kenny down again. Kenny yelled in pain from the move but the duct tape muffled his screams. It was the fourth time today that Arvo had hurt Kenny that way. Like every time that he kicked Kenny down, Arvo spat at the older man and ordered him through his language. Lee figured that it meant, 'get up,' since Arvo was gesturing for Kenny to get up with the assault rifle.

"Hey Bill, we're getting close." Mike said into a walkie-talkie. Lee looked up to see that the trees were starting to thin out.

"Alright, we're waiting." Carver said from the other end.

Lee looked down to the snow and thought about Clementine. No matter what, he wasn't going to let her die. He had worked too hard to lose her. A little over two years ago, he found her as the delicate and precious little girl. He raised her through the toughest conditions and still she kept a huge portion of her innocence. He wasn't going to lose her. Many people say that the world is doomed, but Lee knew he wasn't one of them. He was the cure to this virus and he knew that there was a bright future for him and his group. He was going to save her, and they were going to live like a true family. A fire burned in Lee's eyes as the group got closer to the forest's edge.

The trees became scarcer and the group entered an opening. Lee looked over and his eyes widened in horror. He could see his daughter in her wheelchair with Carver standing next to her. They were standing in the middle of a frozen lake. "Come on." Mike said. The group made their way across the lake with Arvo and Mike flanking them. After a few minutes, they reached Carver and the two traitors start untying the groups' bindings with the exception of Kenny. The redneck protested the action through his muffled yelling while Arvo spat something in Russian and kicked the older man in the shin. Kenny cried in pain as he fell to his knees. Sarita went to him and helped him stand up again.

Lee looked around the area and growled. It was perfect. No coverage and Carver, Mike, and Arvo were well armed. Only a fool would try to kill them.

A smile formed on Carver's lips. Lee looked to Clementine and he could tell that she was scared. He looked back to Carver as the madman began his speech. "When will you people learn? You can't just f*** with me and get away with it. This may have never been a part of my plan, but I will rebuild and I will soon be in charge of a new group. Don't you crippled f**** get it? I have won. What happens when you get a group of sheep together without a shepherd? No, I'll answer that for you. You get a huge mess. A mess that I have to clean up." He eyed each of them down before he extended his hand out. "Mike, my heir." The lean man obliged and pushed Keith closer to Carver. Carver gave the boy a sickening smile and said, "Hello, my boy. I will be teaching you many, many things."

"Alright, a deal's a deal." Carlos said. "Now give us back Clementine."

Carver frowned and said, "You got a lot of nerve. You take everything from me, yet you still demand that I return something of yours?"

"Bill, you promised." Mike said with a frown.

"You don't need to worry about that." Carver said. He pulled out his handgun and aimed it at the ice underneath Clementine. "It's time that I got my revenge." Lee knew what he was going to do. He was going to shoot the ice underneath Clementine and send her to a watery grave.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out… To the group's surprise, Carver was the one who was hit. Blood splattered from the madman's chest. He released a gurgled yell as he fell to the ground. Blood formed underneath him and he was unresponsive. Lee looked around to see where the shot came from and saw that it came from the second story of the unfinished house. Lee's eyes widened upon seeing that it was Carley who took the shot.

Lee looked back down to see Clementine shake in fear in her wheelchair. She opened her eyes and her amber orbs went to Lee immediately. "Da-Daddy…" Clementine said with arms out for him to take her out of danger. Lee ran over and pulled her from her wheelchair.

"Bill!" Mike exclaimed as he looked to the madman. Carlos ran to Mike to pin him down but Mike looked to Carlos at the last second. The two men fell to the ground and wrestled for ownership of the gun as Arvo took aim. He tried to aim for Carlos, but he didn't have a chance to shoot.

Another shot rang out but this time it was nearby. It was Keith and he was using Carver's revolver. Arvo fell to the ground dead with a bullet hole and exit wound on his head. Keith's hands shook and tears formed in his eyes. He dropped the gun as he looked to Arvo's corpse in fear. He fell to his knees and started to cry.

Sarita immediately went to the boy to comfort him along with Kenny who was now free from his bindings. Lee ran over to Clementine's wheelchair and looked over to Sarah. "Stay with Clem." Lee told the teenager.

"What about my dad?" Sarah said as she looked over to see Carlos and Mike still struggling.

"I'll handle it." Lee said. He ran over to Arvo's corpse next and took his axe from the Russian teenager.

He returned to see that Mike almost had the gun aimed at Carlos's head. However, Lee held up his axe and positioned it over Mike. He yelled as he brought the axe down on Mike's neck. The lean man started to choke from injury and blood started to emanate from the wound. Lee yelled again and blood poured out of Mike's neck. Carlos crawled away from Mike and Lee. Lee came down on Mike's sliced neck again and again. Blood started to splatter onto him. He continued after the fact that Mike was dead.

Lee swung one last time and beheaded the traitor. He huffed as he looked down to Mike. The sight was horrifying. Mike had a look of terror in his eyes which accompanied the blood in his mouth. Lee felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to see Kenny standing there with saddened eyes. "It's okay, pal. It's over."

Lee dropped his axe and the two friends shared a hug. "My gosh." Lee muttered.

"I know pal. It's alright, it's alright." Kenny said.

The two friends separated and Carlos said, "We should get off this ice."

Lee looked around to see that the ice had a few cracks in it. He knew that Carlos was right. "Come on. Let's go." Kenny said.

"Kenny, Keith needs help." Sarita said. The boy's body was shaking and his face was buried into Sarita's chest. It was obvious that killing Arvo had left him traumatized. Kenny ran over and surprisingly he picked up the twelve year old boy. Meanwhile, Lee ran over and picked up Clementine from her wheelchair. "It's okay. I got you." Kenny said to comfort the boy. He looked up to the house in the distance and said, "Let's get to the house."

Kenny led the way and ran across the ice with Keith in his arms. Sarita followed him with Carlos and Sarah behind her. Carlos had Clementine's wheelchair in hand. Lee and Clementine were the last to follow. He gave a quick look to Carver before he ran across the frozen lake.

As he made his way across, Lee could hear the cracking and breaking of ice. He prayed silently and hoped that he and Clementine wouldn't fall through. If he fell through, it would mean the end of him and his daughter. He may have been a good swimmer, but with Clementine's weight added to the mix, there would be no possible way that he would swim back to the surface.

Lee huffed as he finally made it off the lake. The group huffed as Lee said, "Man… that was close."

The group heard the crunching of snow next to them. They knew it was footsteps. They turned to see Carley approaching them. She had a hunting rifle with a scope on it in hand. "Carley." Lee said. The markswoman went up to Lee and hugged him.

"I'm glad to see that you're safe." Carley said. She separated from Lee and looked to Clementine. "How are you, honey?"

"I'm okay." Clementine said. "That was pretty scary though."

"Yeah, I bet it was." Carley said as she gave the girl a comforting smile.

"Carley, why were you in there?" Carlos asked.

Carley smirked and said, "I was the one who shot Carver from behind."

"How did you get into that house?" Lee asked.

"Mike and Arvo woke me up last night when they took Clementine from you. I followed them to here. When I saw Carver, I knew that he was up to something. I stayed at the front door of the house and waited, but when I couldn't hear anything inside, I went to investigate." Carley explained. "That's when I saw him and Clem outside in the middle of the ice."

The group looked to Carley with surprised eyes. "Damn… you're good." Kenny said as he rubbed Keith's back to comfort him. Kenny turned to the house and said, "Let's head inside. We need to get out of this damn cold. We'll rest up for a couple days and head to Wellington."

"Sounds good." Carlos said.

"Hey Ken, I noticed that there was a minivan out front." Carley said.

"Really?" Kenny said. His face lit up and he said, "I could get one of them working." He headed inside the half-built house followed by Sarita, Carlos, and Sarah.

Lee stayed behind with Clementine in his arms. He looked down to the girl and asked, "Are you alright? Did Carver hurt you any?"

"I'm alright." Clementine said.

"I'm sorry, Clem." Lee said. "I wish… I should have been better at protecting you. We shouldn't have lowered our guard last night."

Lee felt a comforting hand on his arm which was followed by Carley's voice. "Lee… everything worked out." Lee looked up to Carley's smiling face and the young woman continued. "Between you and me, Clem will never be in any danger."

There was a long pause between the two until Lee spoke up. "It's hard, Car. I feel like every day, the odds are stacked against us."

"Well, we've beaten them so far." Carley said. "Listen, Wellington is a straight shot from here and if Ken can get that van working we're talking about a three to four day drive at the worst."

"Will they even let us in?" Clementine asked. "It's not like I can do much of anything."

Lee and Carley looked to the child and Carley said, "You don't need to worry about that. We'll find a way to get in there. Right now, we should be celebrating that Carver's finally gone."

"You're right." Lee said. He looked to the house and said, "I'll help Ken get that van started."

"Sounds good." Carley said. "I'll take Clem for a while. We'll see if Keith and Sarita are up for a game of Apples-to-Apples.

"Have fun." Lee said with a smirk as he handed the girl to Carley. Next, Lee headed inside to see that Sarita and Keith were already engaged in a game of Apples-to-Apples along with Sarah and Carlos. Keith seemed to have calmed down from what he had to do out on the ice. Kenny must have talked to him. Lee went on to the front of the house while he could hear Carley and Clementine coming inside.

He opened the door and looked out to see Kenny trying to get the minivan working. Lee walked outside and approached Kenny. "Hey pal." Kenny said as he continued to tamper with the engine.

"Hey Ken." Lee said. "Came out here to see if you needed any help."

"Ehh… not the worst thing I've had to fix." Kenny said. "I'll get this thing running in a few minutes."

"So, that was pretty intense back there." Lee said.

"Yeah." Kenny said with a frown. "I thought I was going to lose them… both of them." He stopped messing with the engine and crossed his arms over his chest. He then sighed and took a moment to recollect what happened.

"Sarita and Keith." Lee said.

"Yeah… I know that I haven't known them for that long, but… they just… in their own way, they remind me of Katjaa and Duck. Sarita is caring and kind just like Kat and Keith is a sweet boy and I can tell that he likes Clem. Duck used to talk about wanting to go out on a date with her… They grow up pretty fast." Kenny said.

"Yeah, you're right about that." Lee said.

Kenny looked out to the snow covered forest and said, "We're going to make it pal… The next stop is Wellington."

"I'm right there with you, Ken. It won't be an easy ride, but we'll get there." Lee said as he looked out to the snow covered forest as well. He couldn't believe that his journey was almost over. It all started when that police officer was taking him to prison where he would spend the rest of his life, and now, it was almost over.

 **Days Later**

The minivan pulled up in front of a large gate. It looked as though that the gate stretched out for miles. The gate was made up of hundreds of freights. The group members exited the vehicle and approached the gate with Lee carrying Clementine and Carlos carrying the girl's wheelchair. "Is this it?" Carlos asked.

"I… I think so." Kenny said. He knocked on a freight which was used as a gate and yelled, "Hello, anybody home?"

"Don't move!" A woman exclaimed. The group turned to see a young woman who was joined by several guards armed with assault rifle. The woman's eyes widened upon seeing Clementine, Keith, and Sarah. "Shit, stand down! Stand down!" The armed guards withdrew their weapons and awaited for further orders. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize that you had children with you." The woman said in a calmer and nicer demeanor. "I'm Edith."

"Hiya, the name's Kenny. We're looking to see if we can get into Wellington." Kenny said.

"What do you plan to do once you're inside?" One of the guards asked.

"We're just looking for a safe place." Lee said. "My daughter's paraplegic. I just want to get her somewhere safe for the remainder of her life."

"Well… you're all in luck." Edith said. "We are accepting new members and we also have a couple of genius neurosurgeons inside. If anyone can get your daughter to walk again, it's them."

"Thank you. We would all really appreciate that." Lee said.

"So you'll let us in?" Carlos asked.

"Yes. However, I would like to know how you can contribute to the community. Not all of you need to contribute. In fact children are automatically exempted from having to do anything, except for going to school." Edith said.

"Well, I was a doctor before all of this. I have about ten years of experience." Carlos said.

"We could always use another doctor. In all honesty, Steve and Harold are maxed out when it comes to receiving patients." Edith said. She looked to the other group members and asked, "Anyone else?"

"I was a commercial fisherman before the outbreak." Kenny said. "I can catch almost anything for y'all when the summer comes."

"That would be fantastic. I know a lot of people here would love to eat fish again." Edith said.

"I'm a trained shooter." Carley said. "You can put me on guard and I'll make sure nothing gets inside. Although, I might be on leave in a couple months."

Edith smiled and said, "I can tell. You have a small baby bump." Carley smiled back to the woman and nodded. Edith looked to the group as a whole and said, "You all seem like good additions to the community."

"I'm afraid that I don't have much for skill wise… I used to help manage a day care, but that is all." Sarita said.

"Trust me… anything helps right now. We have a lot of children in Wellington." Edith said. She turned to Lee last and asked, "What about you… um… I never really got your name."

"It's Lee. I was a history professor at the University of Georgia in Athens." Lee said.

"Whoa, you guys came all the way up here from Georgia?" Edith asked.

"Lee, Kenny, Carley, and Clementine did." Carlos said. "The rest of us started in different locations… most notably closer to Ohio. There were others but they didn't make it"

"Oh, I see. I guess you guys have had a long trek." Edith said as she looked to the four survivors that came from Georgia.

"There's one more thing you need to know about." Lee said. Edith turned to the man and he huffed. "I was bitten almost two years ago and I never turned. I'm immune to the virus."

Edith's eyes widened and she said, "We're going to need to see some proof of that."

"Of course." Lee said. Carley walked up to him and took the eleven year old from his grasp. Lee then pulled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt and coat to reveal the bite on his wrist. The scar was still present and still had the shape of a human chomp.

Edith walked up to him and examined the wound for herself. She stared at it for several seconds before she looked up. "I've never seen this before." Edith said.

"If he's bit, we can't let him in." One of the guards said.

Edith turned to the guard and said, "I… I think he's telling the truth. Let's take them inside. Have someone stay on guard out here. I need to take Lee and Clementine to Steve and Harold."

"Yes ma'am." One of the guards said.

Edith turned to the group and said, "Come with me." She headed inside one of the open freights with the group following close behind. "As you can tell, we have made our defenses a top priority. We've been building more and more housing and adjusting the wall to accommodate more people." They finally exited the freights and Edith directed them to a bus. "We always have a bus near the wall just in case new people show up."

"Is Wellington far from here?" Kenny asked.

"It's a ten minute drive." Edith said. She headed inside the bus and sat in the driver's seat. The other group members walked inside and took a seat as well. Soon, the bus started up and country music could be heard. It was pleasant to hear since none of the survivors had listened to music in a while. However, it didn't take long for them to become entranced with their new surroundings. It started with a couple of snow covered farms and houses, but eventually, the bus drove into a decent size town. It wasn't overly crowded, but there were plenty of residents.

"It's just like before." Clementine said.

"Yeah it is." Lee said with a smile.

"Looks like we got to make a quick stop." Edith said. The bus slowed to a halt and she gestured for the group members to join her. The group exited the bus and were met with an older man who was in his mid-forties. He wore a brown coat with a purple hooded sweatshirt underneath, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of black shoes.

"Who do we got here, Edith?" The man asked.

"Some survivors that were outside the wall. They seem friendly enough." Edith said.

The man gave a warm smile and said, "I believe you're right."

"Yeah, you can trust them." The group heard. Kenny and Lee perked up upon hearing the voice. It was a voice they hadn't heard in a while. "Been a while, hasn't it?" A young blonde woman said with a smirk.

"Molly." Clementine said with a smile.

"Hey kid. How are you holding up?" Molly asked as she looked to the child in Lee's arms.

"You know them?" The man asked.

"Yeah, they're good people. They helped me out quite a bit." Molly said.

"It's good to see you again. You seem different." Lee said.

"I am… thanks for what happened back at Crawford. I guess I was going down a bit of a dark road. I'm glad that… I met you guys." Molly said. "By the way, this is my Uncle Ralph. He's one of the elders in this city."

"Nice to meet you." Ralph said to the group. "I can take y'all to some of the housing, but I think a couple of you would benefit seeing Steve and Harold…" He looked to Clementine and continued, "…maybe he'll get you going again."

"I would really like that." Clementine said.

"So, what's wrong with Clem?" Molly asked.

"She's paralyzed from the waist down. Some reckless boy shot her." Lee said.

"The f***…" Molly muttered as she looked down with a saddened and shocked face.

"It was an accident. He didn't mean to shoot me." Clementine said.

"With any luck, Steve and Harold will be getting you walking again." Ralph said. He turned to Edith and said, "You can take them to Steve and Harold."

"I want to go with them." Carley said. "I'm Lee's fiancée."

Ralph nodded and said, "Of course."

"Ralph, there's one other thing. Lee's immune to the virus. I checked to see the bite on his arm from outside." Edith explained.

"Really?" Ralph said. "Won't mind if I take a look?"

"Go ahead." Lee said as he pulled up his sleeve. Like Edith, Ralph was amazed to see the wound. It was evident that he was shocked to see it. "Amazing. We might be able to create a cure."

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Edith said.

"Okay. Get them to Steve and Harold." Ralph said to Edith. The woman nodded and gestured Lee, Carley, and Clementine to follow her. Ralph turned to the other group members and said, "The rest of you are with me and Molly…"

Edith turned to Lee, Clementine, and Carley and said, "Follow me a bit further. I'll get you to Dr. Ryans and Dr. Shuit.

"Okay." Lee said.

"Wait, Lee." Carlos said. He unfolded the wheelchair in his possession and said, "Here."

"Thanks." Lee said. He placed Clementine in the wheelchair and looked to his group members.

"We'll all be hoping for the best for you as well as Clementine." Carlos said.

"Yeah, I hope you'll be able to walk again, Clem." Sarah said.

"And even if you can't, at least now, we're safe." Sarita said to the girl.

"Thanks… I hope I can walk too." Clementine said.

"Good luck." Kenny said to Lee.

"Thanks." Lee said with a smile. "See ya in a bit." Lee turned to Edith and nodded indicating that he and his family were ready to follow. Edith led the way with Clementine behind her and Lee and Carley behind the paraplegic girl. They were ready to push her if they had to, but for the most part they held each other's hands. They didn't know what to expect from the hospital, but either way, whether Clementine would remain paralyzed or not, she would be safe from now on. Wellington appeared to be the safest place in the United States. It appeared as though the apocalypse had never happened. And it would be the only place that they would live in from that day forward. Lee would make sure that Clementine never steps outside the gate ever again with the exception of Wellington falling, but that didn't seem like a possibility.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: I promise that the next chapter is the last. Guaranteed…**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: This is it everyone. The last chapter. The epilogue is added in since it's pretty short.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Edith led Lee, Carley, and Clementine down the street. Clementine was shivering from the cold wind, but Lee could see the hospital that Edith was leading them to. "It's not much further." Edith said as she looked back to the three.

"This place seems almost untouched by the walkers." Lee said. It was true. Each of the houses had electricity, the streets were clean of debris, and the buildings remained intact.

"Yeah, we were able to bring up the wall rather quickly. We still lost people, but not too many." Edith explained as she held the door for Clementine.

"Thank you." Clementine said as she rolled the wheels of the wheelchair forward. Lee and Carley followed with Edith being the last to enter the hospital. Lee looked around the hospital and was amazed to see how neat and organized it was. He hadn't seen anything like it for years and he wasn't expecting anything as clean or organized as the hospital for the remainder of his lifetime.

"Hi, I got a couple of special cases for Steve and Harold." Edith said to a young woman at the counter.

"I see." The woman said as she looked to Clementine. "Bring them on back. Steve and Harold have been bored out of their minds today."

Edith nodded and directed the group to follow her again. They entered a hallway and went past a couple of rooms. Edith then turned to a room and said, "Dr. Ryans, Dr. Shuit, I have a couple of patients for you." Lee turned the corner to see two men. Both were very different. One man was young, slender and somewhat muscular, while the other appeared to be in his mid-fifties. He was plump and had more muscle than the younger man.

"Well, what do we have here?" The older man asked as he looked to Clementine with a smile.

"This is Clementine. She's paralyzed from the waist down. I was wondering if you could help her." Lee said. "I'm her father. My name's Lee."

"Nice to meet you." The younger man said. "I'm Dr. Steve Ryans and this is my mentor, Dr. Harold Shuit, but you can just call us by our first names… almost everyone does. We can probably help her, but we need to ask some questions first." The younger man said.

"Okay." Lee said.

"How long has she been paralyzed?" Harold asked.

"A month." Lee said.

"Hmm… it's not an old wound, but it will be difficult to treat. It's almost on the border line." Harold said.

"Of course, we don't know the severity of the wound until we had a look at it. If it's alright, we'd like to take an x-ray." Steve said.

"I won't mind at all." Lee said.

"Good, would you be alright in undressing her for us, so we can take an accurate x-ray. She can't be wearing jeans." Harold said to Carley.

"I won't mind." Carley said.

"We'll need a few minutes, Lee." Steve said. "You can wait here in the meantime."

Lee nodded and said, "Thank you."

"Steve, you'll have to take some blood from Lee." Edith said. "He's immune."

Steve's and Harold's eyes widened and they looked to Lee. "Is this true?" Harold asked.

"Yeah, it is." Lee said. He pulled up the sleeve of his coat and sweatshirt to reveal the bite. Both men stepped forward and looked to the wound.

"Remarkable." Harold said. He shook his head and said, "Okay, we'll do some blood work on you after we get your little girl taken care of."

"I really appreciate it." Lee said. The two doctors nodded and gestured Carley to follow them. Carley started to push Clementine forward, but the girl looked back to Lee from her wheelchair. She had a worried look on her face. Lee gave her an encouraging smile and mouthed, 'You'll be okay.' Lee watched them leave and he sat down on the chair. He tapped his fingers on the arms of the chair and prayed silently that there would be some way that Clementine could walk again.

 **Hours Later**

Lee sat in the chair with Clementine on his lap. The girl was drawing on a piece of paper while Carley sat next to him. Steve had gotten blood from Lee half an hour ago, and now the family waited for the results for both Lee's immune blood and Clementine's paralysis.

Suddenly, both doctors returned and Harold put up the x-ray results. Lee saw that Clementine's spine was a bit of a mess and he was starting to worry. "Well, as you can see, your daughter's spine doesn't look to good, but with surgery, we can get her walking again." Harold said.

"Really?" Lee, Carley, and Clementine asked with each having a satisfied smile.

Harold chuckled and said, "Yes, we'll have to put rods in for support and it's going to take some rehabilitation, but she'll be walking."

"To be on the safe side, don't let her lift anything that's too heavy. Twenty pounds is the max from now on." Steve said as he looked to the girl.

"When can you start working on her and how much will we owe you?" Carley asked.

"Well, to answer question one, we're going to start tomorrow. We'll get her prepped for surgery at nine and then surgery will begin at ten." Steve said. "As for the second, I don't think you guys will owe us anything. We tested Lee's blood and found out what makes him immune."

"He has a rare chemical compound that is not found in many people… In fact, this is the first time I've ever seen it. Only a handful of people in history have this chemical in their bodies." Harold explained. "It'll take time and we might need more samples, but we will create a cure to the walker virus."

"Yeah, call me any time you need a sample." Lee said.

"Will do, but we got plenty to work with right now." Harold said.

"You guys should head home. We'll see you all at nine tomorrow." Steve said.

"Okay, see you then." Lee said. He adjusted his grip on Clementine with one arm under her knees and another under her back. He then placed her in the wheelchair and placed a blanket on her legs.

"Thank you for all the help." Carley said.

"Yeah, thank you so much." Clementine said.

"We should be thanking you… We finally have a light at the end of the tunnel for this horrid virus. If we can create a vaccine, our fatality rate will decrease dramatically." Steve said.

"We'll see you all tomorrow." Harold said. "Edith should be outside waiting for you."

"Thanks and see ya tomorrow." Lee said. He headed out of the room with Clementine following behind him and Carley behind her. The three headed outside, and just as Harold said, Edith was waiting for them. Lee noticed that it must have been early evening. The sun was barely visible in the sky, and night was almost among them.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Edith asked.

"It went very well." Lee said. "Clem's going to surgery tomorrow."

"That's good to hear. I'm sure they'll get your little girl walking." Edith said.

"I hope so." Lee said. "Where's Ken and the others?"

"I already got them to their homes and that's where I'm taking you next." Edith said. She walked over to a grey car and stepped inside the driver's seat. Carley followed and sat in the passenger seat. Lee picked up Clementine and placed her in the back seat with her folded up wheelchair next to her. He then got on the other side and the vehicle started up.

"Is this yours?" Carley asked as the car moved forward.

"No, it's yours. We usually give newcomers a house and a car free of charge." Edith said.

"Wow, I wish we had that before the walkers." Lee said.

"Don't we all." Edith said. "I remember all the stress of trying to pay down my first car before everything went to shit."

"Yeah, I feel you. All those things that we were worried about before the walkers seems so trivial now." Carley said.

"Yeah, some of those things." Lee whispered. He couldn't help but think of his scenario before the apocalypse. He was given a life sentence for the murder of his wife and the state senator, but now, he had a new chance to make a better life for himself and the little girl that he took on as his own.

The car soon came to a halt in front of a house and Edith stepped out. Lee and Carley followed and the two helped Clementine into her wheelchair. Edith gave Lee and Carley a key and said, "This key goes to the house. We have a supermarket nearby that is decently stocked for a community of our size. You'll find some of the food you enjoyed before the dead rose there. Also, there's a hydroelectric dam near hear which powers the whole city so don't worry about electricity." Edith explained.

"That's quite the set up." Lee said.

"Yeah, we're trying to make this place feel like society before the apocalypse." Edith said.

"Well, thank you for all the help." Carley said.

"No problem. Good luck to you guys." Edith said. She turned and headed down the sidewalk as Lee went to the door and unlocked it with the key. He went inside the house and turned on the light. It was amazing. There were several rooms within the house including a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a set of stairs which most likely led to the bedrooms and bathroom.

"Wow." Carley said as she walked inside.

"Well, I guess I need to get dinner started." Lee said.

"Yeah, while you're doing that, I'll take Clem and give her a bath." Carley said.

"Just don't take too long." Lee said. Carley nodded before she lifted the eleven year old from her wheelchair. The two headed upstairs as Lee went into the kitchen and searched for something to make. He looked out the window into the dark night and thought of the past few years before he shook his head. "I got to make dinner first." Lee muttered and he went through one of the cupboards.

* * *

Lee and Carley stood next to the gurney that their daughter was laying on. It would be the last time that Carley and Lee would see her in a while. Kenny, Keith, Sarita, Carlos, Sarah, and Molly were behind the two adults. The girl was kept in her recently given pajamas for the surgery.

"You're going to be okay, sweet pea." Lee said as he gripped her hand.

"I… I'm scared." Clementine said. Her eyes looked up to Lee with fear.

"I know you are honey, but you'll be asleep through most of it." Lee said.

"You're strong honey. You can do this." Carley said to encourage her daughter.

"We'll all be waiting for you, darling." Kenny said.

"Good luck, kid." Molly said.

Clementine gave the two an appreciative smile before Harold and Steve came out. "Well, we'll see you guys in about thirteen hours." Steve said.

"Feel free to do whatever you want to do during that time." Harold said. The two doctors gripped the gurney and left with the eleven year old. The group watched the three disappear behind the door to the back of the hospital where the operating room was. They were all concerned worried especially Lee and Carley. Nonetheless, they soon sat down and waited...

 **11 Hours Later**

The doors suddenly opened which caught everyone off guard. Dr. Steve Ryans came out with his clothing appearing to be rather clean despite performing surgery. He looked to Lee and Carley with a stern look. "What's wrong?" Lee asked as he got out of his seat. Carley was also concerned and got out of her seat. Everyone within the room froze and looked to the doctor with concerned eyes. Keith's and Sarah's game of chess was interrupted and the two children looked to Steve with fear. With each passing second, the room became filled with more and more tension.

Finally, the doctor smiled and said, "The surgery is complete. She'll be able to walk in a few days." Everyone but the doctor breathed a sigh of relief as Steve continued, "We got her on some pain relievers, so she's pretty loopy right now."

"Can we see her?" Lee asked.

"I'm afraid only family members can at the moment… so only you two can." Steve said to Lee and Carley.

Lee turned to the other group members and asked, "You guys alright with that?"

"Yeah, that's fine by us." Kenny said. "We'll head back home."

"Food will be at our house tonight to celebrate." Sarita said.

"Thanks we appreciate it." Lee said. "And thanks for staying here for Clem."

"It's the least we can do pal." Kenny said. Kenny, Sarita, Keith, Sarah, Carlos, and Molly headed out the door of the hospital and Lee turned back to Steve. The doctor directed him and Carley to follow him and they headed down to the recovery room.

They looked inside to see Clementine smiling and looking up. It was like she was in her own little world. They headed inside to hear her laughing and giggling… most likely an effect of the medication. "Oh… hey mommy and daddy." Clementine said with a giggle.

"Hey sweet pea, how are you feeling?" Lee asked.

"Pretty good." Clementine giggled.

"I'll let you guys have some alone time." Steve said.

"Thanks… for everything." Carley said.

"No problem." Steve said. "You guys can leave at any point. There will be a nurse here to check on her throughout the night." He then exited the room.

Lee and Carley sat down next to the girl and looked to Clementine. The girl was still smiling and giggling and asked, "Where's everyone else?"

"They couldn't come back here, sweetie." Carley said. "Only family is allowed back here right now."

"Oh... okay." Clementine said.

The two adults stayed with Clementine until the pain relievers started to make her drowsy and eventually put her to sleep. Lee huffed and he got up. "Can't believe she'll be walking again soon."

"It's going to be hard for her until then." Carley said.

"Yeah, you're right, but if there's anyone who can handle it, it's her." Lee said with a smile aimed at the sleeping child.

 ***Epilogue***

 **One Year Later**

"Alright, are there any questions?" Lee asked the class. It was his last class of the day. He looked to the clock in the back of the room and said, "Alright, you're all dismissed." The students got up from their seats and left with the exception of one girl. Lee quickly gathered his supplies and turned off the computer as the girl got out of her seat walked over to him. It was his daughter, Clementine.

Lee finished packing everything as the girl waited for him. "You ready to go?" Lee asked the twelve year old. Clementine nodded in response. The girl hadn't grown any since last year. However, her curly hair had grown out and was now below her shoulders. She wore a light blue hooded sweatshirt over a purple long sleeve shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of white shoes.

Lee smiled to the girl and the two headed out. Lee was anxious to return home so that he could wear warmer clothes. His dress clothes provided little warmth from the cold wind and snow. They exited the building last with Kenny and Keith close by. "Hey there pal." Kenny said.

"Hey." Lee said to his friend. "You still wanting to come over tomorrow, Keith?" Lee asked the boy.

"Yeah, if that's okay." Keith said.

"I don't have any problems with that." Lee said.

"Alright, but you two better not be going out on some secret dates or kissing, got it?" Kenny said.

"Yes sir." Keith and Clementine said in unison.

Kenny smirked and gave an amused look. "Man, they grow up way too fast." Kenny said.

"I hear you." Lee said.

"Anyway, we're going to head home. Sarita's going to make chili." Kenny said.

"Sounds good. I'm going to help Car with making broccoli cheddar soup." Lee said.

"Hmm… that sounds good." Kenny said. "Anyway, Sarita will have my hide if I don't get him home."

"Alright, Ken. See ya tomorrow." Lee said.

"Bye Keith." Clementine said as she hugged the boy.

"Bye Clem." Keith said as he returned the hug. A few seconds ticked by until the two released each other from their hug. Keith and Kenny headed for a truck while Lee and Clementine went to a car.

Lee got inside with Clementine taking a seat in the back of the vehicle. "How's your back, honey? Do we need to make visit to Steve and Harold before we go home?" Lee asked as he started up the car. Despite the surgery to regain her mobility being a success, Clementine would often have back problems. Lee had spent a good portion of money and time to make sure that Clementine would feel comfortable. Her back problems weren't too severe, but they could cause her pain if left untreated.

"I'm okay." Clementine said. "Those chairs are pretty uncomfortable though."

"I bet. We need to get them replaced." Lee said as he drove out of the school parking lot. The rest of the drive was rather quiet between the two. Lee turned up the volume on the radio so they could listen to some country music. He didn't like it all that much, but he knew that Clementine did. The girl swayed back and forth while mouthing the lyrics. Meanwhile, Lee kept driving closer and closer to home. He looked out the window to see several people walking around and admiring his neighbor's Christmas decorations. The holiday was only a couple weeks away. Lee turned into his driveway and turned off the vehicle. He then stepped out and said, "Home, sweet home."

Clementine also exited the vehicle and headed inside. Lee followed behind her, but he took a moment to look at the snowman that they created a couple days ago. He remembered that day. It was a fond memory of his where he saw more of Clementine's childish side. He didn't get to see it very often. He then turned to the house and headed inside. Once inside, he saw Carley and Clementine in the kitchen. Carley wore a yellow hooded sweatshirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of white socks. "Oh hey… there you are." Carley said as she went into the hallway. The two leaned in for a kiss and took a moment to enjoy the warmth that the other gave. "How was work?" Carley asked after they finished the kiss.

"Good." Lee said. "You remember that Keith is coming over tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Carley asked.

Lee chuckled and said, "Because you always seem to forget about almost everything."

Carley gave a playful glare and said, "Careful Lee. I don't want kick you out into the snow for the night."

Suddenly, crying emanated from upstairs. "Oh shoot." Carley said under her breath. "Can you go see what's wrong with Melody? I got to get supper ready."

"Yeah, I got her." Lee said as he looked upstairs.

"Thanks." Carley said. She turned and headed back to the kitchen. She went up to Clementine and said, "So you ready to help me cook."

"Yeah." Clementine said.

Lee smiled and headed upstairs. He went to Melody's nursery and went inside. There he found the four month old infant crying. She was beautiful. Despite having some of Carver's features, she had plenty of features from Carley. The infant stopped crying immediately upon seeing her father. "Hey there, baby." Lee said as he picked her up from the crib. "You must be ready to move, huh?"

The infant giggled in his grip and tried to reach for his beard. Lee quickly changed the infant and placed her on the ground so that she could play with her toys. He watched the infant as she continued to make noise and chewed on the toys that she had.

Lee heard footsteps from behind and saw Clementine. The twelve year old was smiling as she watched her baby sister. "She's really cute." Clementine said.

Melody heard the voice and immediately squealed upon seeing her older sister. Clementine stepped forward and went to pick up the infant, but Lee stopped her. Clementine looked to her father with a questioning stare and asked, "She's not that heavy yet, is she?"

"Not yet, but she's getting close. Remember lift with your knees, not your back." Lee said.

"I know. I'll be careful." Clementine said. Lee stepped away and allowed the girl to pick up Melody. As instructed, Clementine bent her legs and pushed up with her knees. The infant squealed as she looked to Lee.

"What?" Lee asked. "Are you up high?" The infant continued to giggle and squeal as a form of yes.

"Mommy told me to come and get you for dinner." Clementine said to Lee.

"Well, we better not keep her waiting." Lee said. He placed his hands out to accept Melody and gestured Clementine to follow. He then headed out of the room and down the stairs with Clementine close behind and Melody in his arms.

* * *

Lee would often think back on his life decisions. It was funny that the best decisions of his life came after the world went to shit. Through all of his struggles and more importantly the struggles of others, Lee was proud of his decisions. Through the whole ordeal, he had gotten a wonderful wife, two beautiful daughters, a couple of good friends, and a vaccine to the worst plague in human history.

 **THE END**

 **A/N: Well guys that was fun. I probably won't be doing double duty (updating two FanFics at the same time) for a while. I think I'm going to try to do as much as I can to DMW and continue with the rewrite of SoT.**

 **Anyway thanks for all the support you guys gave this Fic. A special thanks goes to everyone who reviewed, favorite, and/or followed this story…. Q out!**


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